For first time in their history, Saudis vote in municipal elections

For the first time in their history, the Saudis headed on Thursday for the ballot centers in the areas of the capital Riyadh to cast their votes in the first municipal elections taking place in the Kingdom all over its history.

These elections are being made amid unprecedented security measures in the city.

The voting is for the election of half of the members of the 178 local councils, while the Saudi crown prince will appoint the other half members of this council.

The elections will be made in three phases within the three coming months in other Saudi cities.

This Thursday's first phase, will be followed by elections in the eastern and south western area on the third of March and that to be followed by the voting in the north and western areas where Mecca and al-Madina cities are situated.

Some 1800 candidates are competing to win 592 seats in 178 municipal councils, including 646 of them that are competing for 7 seats in the seven provinces of Riyadh. The number of persons registered in the elections lists in Riyadh is 148,000 from among 400,000 persons eligible to vote, according to estimates.

The spokesman for the US Department Of State said that these elections constitute an important development and that Saudi Arabia is not outside the frame of reforms taking place in the area. He stressed the need of the Saudi women participation fully in the political activity. The Saudi authorities banned women's participation in these elections.