RIYADH — The Council of Ministers on Monday congratulated the male and female winners of the municipal elections held on Saturday. The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamama Palace, thanked all the government agencies and committees involved in the smooth conduct of the election process. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Turaifi said 2,106 men and women were elected to the municipal councils in the elections in which 702,542 voters excised their franchise at 1,296 polling centers spread across the Kingdom. The Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's keenness on unifying regional and international efforts to tackle the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, which is witnessing an unprecedented phase of instability and violence as well as the spread of the scourge of terrorism. It specially mentioned the threats posed by a number of organizations that are claiming Islamic ideology, but have nothing to do with the heavenly religion as Islam is a religion of peace and it respects human life and its dignity. The Cabinet welcomed the Riyadh Declaration, approved at the end of the GCC Summit held last week. The Cabinet also appreciated the vision of King Salman that calls for the GCC states to exert more efforts to achieve concrete results in enhancing the bloc's cooperation and interdependence among them, as well as to upgrade the Council's global status, and create an economic and social environment to promote citizens' prosperity. The vision will also be instrumental in restoring security and stability to neighboring countries. The Cabinet highlighted the Kingdom's call at the Paris climate summit to adopt policies aimed at reducing emissions without bias against any energy source. During the meeting, the Kingdom reiterated its commitment to improve energy efficiency in its recognition of the importance of reducing emissions as a means to combat climate change and support sustainable development programs. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet thanked Arab states and other countries for appreciating the Kingdom's role in hosting the meeting of the Syrian opposition to end the tragedy of the Syrian people. The Cabinet commended the announcement of the coalition command to support the legitimacy in Yemen on purging the island of Greater Hanish of Houthi militias so as to reinstate the authority of the legitimate government there.
