Eastern Province chamber poll draws fewer contenders.

Siraj Wahab I Arab News <p>DAMMAM: Thirty-six businessmen and four businesswomen have filed their nominations for elections to the Eastern Province chamber of commerce board. This is far less than the number of candidates during last elections four years ago. At that time, 53 candidates were in the running. Wednesday was the last date for filing nominations.

Nearly 15,000 voters from Dammam, Alkhobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Ras Tanura, Qatif, Saihat and Hafr Al-Batin will elect 12 members from this list of 40 candidates. The commerce and industry minister will appoint another six members to the 18-member board. Elections are set for Dec. 19, but there has been no official confirmation of the date.

There was quite a sensation in business circles here because the two most important names in the Eastern Province business community, Maan Al-Sanea and Saud Al-Gosaibi, were not on the list. Both topshots and their business groups, Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Al-Gosaibi and Brothers Co., are locked in a fierce legal battle. Both Al-Sanea and Al-Gosaibi were the key architects of their group's victory in the last elections. Both sit as vice presidents of the Asharqia Chamber. "We were expecting them to spring a surprise on the last day of nominations," said a businessman contesting the elections.

"It seemed inconceivable that these elections will be fought without them. This will lead to a whole new ball game. There will be new permutations and combinations. A totally new scenario will emerge during and after the elections," he said in response to the release of the final list of candidates. "It will be interesting to note as to whom Al-Sanea will support in the coming days."

Although Saud Al-Gosaibi is not contesting the elections, another member of the family, Dawood bin Suleiman Hamad Al-Gosaibi, did file papers. His exact position in the group is neither stated nor known. As reported earlier, prominent among those contesting the elections are Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, Ibrahim Al-Jomaih, Abdullah Al-Majdouie, Abdul Hadi Al-Hokait, Ghodran Said Al-Ghamdi and Abdul Rahman Al-Otaishan.

On the final day of nominations, two more women came forward to stand for elections. Businesswomen Dina Al-Fares and Aqeela Yahya joined Suad Alzaydi and Fowzia Al-Karri in the forthcoming battle of ballots. Six women contested the chamber elections four years ago. None of them emerged victorious. It is a tough battle for them this time too, and because they couldn't succeed last time there is not much enthusiasm among the businesswomen now.

However, they are still hoping to garner enough votes to win at least a seat. If not, their next best wish is to hope for the minister of commerce and industry to nominate one or two women to the chamber's board.

"This is a must," said Samia Al-Edrisi who contested the last elections. "We need our representation in the chamber. Compared to businesswomen from Riyadh and Jeddah we are better integrated in the business community here in the Eastern Province. All this is thanks to Saudi Aramco," she said.

"We will, however, do our best to win a seat or two through elections. Having gone through the process last time, we are wiser, and we will fine-tune our election campaign for optimal results. We will try to reach as many eligible voters as possible," Al-Edrisi added.

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