ARAR: A number of women in the Northern Frontier want to know why they have been excluded from the municipal elections. Hadel Mounis said, “We are stunned at the absence of women from the next municipal elections. We hope we'll be allowed to vote in these elections.”?Sultana Khaled emphasized that several women want to take an active part in developing the districts in the region. She argued that the participation of women is essential for the development of the districts in which they live. She said women know what services families need in these districts. Badour Maneef said the exclusion of women from the municipal elections will hamper efforts to develop Saudi cities. Abeer Al-Enezi stressed that regional councils need to include women and should not be the “monopoly” of men. “In other words it should not be limited to men and [exclude] women. It is a daring step and we should give it a try.” Fatima Al-Enezi said women should at least be allowed to vote, even if they are excluded from standing as candidates. Meanwhile, the Enza Tribe in Al-Ewaqllea town in the Northern Frontier has nominated one man, to avoid a splitting the tribe's voting. The tribe has selected one candidate from the Dahshma tribe. Engineer Saleh Bin Hussein Al-Saqaeer, Head of Rafha Municipality, who is also the General Supervisor of the Elections in the governorate, said he selected two polling centers at two government schools for the registration of candidates. Engineer Daifallah Bin Ayyish, Mayor of the Eastern Province and Head of the Elections Supervisory Committee, said the mayoralty has made all the necessary arrangements for the municipal elections. The voters will vote for 21 municipal councils all over the region. They will cast their votes in 98 election centers in 31 constituencies. There are two in Al-Khobar, one in Dhahran, five in Qatif, and one constituency for each of the remaining governorates including Jubail, Rass Tanoura, Khafji, Nairyia and Abqiq. He said each center can accommodate 300 voters. There were a total of 200,000 voters in the previous election.
