Many candidates are running to fill half of all seats but few people are interested in voting.

Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The first Saudi municipal elections will begin tomorrow and take place at three different dates: in the central region of the Kingdom tomorrow, in the eastern region on March 3, and in the western region, including Makkah and Madinah, on April 21.

Eligible Saudi voters will elect half of all municipal seats; the other half will be appointed by the central government, which retains veto power over elected councillors.

There is a high of candidates—1818 in the central region who are running for 104 seats in 38 councils; in Riyadh alone, there are 698 candidates.

Voting however seems to have elicited little interest. Survey indicate that less than half (39 per cent) of all eligible voters are going to cast their ballot. Women and foreign workers are excluded in principle from running and voting.

Many Saudi intellectuals acknowledge that a step has been taken towards are more democratic society but consider it inadequate and under too many restrictions.

Others attribute low voters' interest to the lack of freedoms of expression and association which make genuine participation nearly impossible.

Those leaders who did call for greater political reforms were arrested in March 2004.

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