A file photo of King Fahd

RIYADH , March 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia 's first elections ever will take place in October and should lead to general elections, according to news reports Saturday, March 13.

"Elections in Saudi Arabia will take place next October," Saleh Al-Malik, a member of the Shura Council, was quoted by Asharq al-Awsat daily as saying.

"There is no question of going back on the municipal elections," Salih al-Omeir, who is heading a Shura delegation visiting London , was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

Al-Omeir said that the experience of the Shura and the municipal elections will be a positive factor to generalize the idea of elections, so that "they are general and not just municipal".

When Saudi Arabia said Monday, October 13 it would hold the first municipal elections within a year, the move drew mixed reactions in the oil-rich Kingdom.

Some opposition members have said holding elections means little in the absence of basic freedoms.

Under Study

Malik also told the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the participation of women in the Shura Council was under study and that a decision on whether women will be able to vote in the municipal poll would "not take a long time".

Abdullah Al-Bukhari, another delegate, also denied women were marginalized in the Kingdom.

"On the contrary, they work as teachers, administrators and investors," he said.

Al-Omeir rejected claims Islam viewed women as inferior to men and some people “unfortunately misunderstood Islam’s view of women,” SPA quoted him as saying.

The royal house also approved this week the formation of the 41-member National Human Rights Association, which includes a number of women and has a mandate to monitor violations of women's rights.

National Policy

The official news agency said the decision to hold nationwide municipal polls was in keeping with the policy advocated by King Fahd and Prince Abdullah to "press ahead on the path of political and administrative reform".

Currently, ballots are only held to choose some members of the governing boards of chambers of commerce and industry.

Saudi Arabia announced last October that the first polls in the kingdom would take place within a year to elect half the members of new municipal councils.

Semi-official reports have since said polls would be held within three years to fill one-third of the Shura Council's 120 seats, and that half the members of regional councils would be elected within two years.

Pro-reform activists have repeatedly petitioned Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to demand the liberalization of Saudi Arabia 's conservative system, AFP said.

But ultra-conservatives and radical Islamists oppose reforms in a country where women still do not even have the right to drive, it added.

Saudi Arabia has been under U.S. pressure to open up its system in the aftermath of the September 11 hijackings.

The major steps forward come as Washington is pressing for social and political reforms across the Arab world, including the release of the "Greater Middle East" initiative for democracy.

In December last year, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree, whereby Shura Council is granted additional powers previously held by the monarch himself.

By virtue of the new royal decree, the Consultative Council has been granted the right to propose bills without the king’s prior consent, in contradiction with the provision of the previous article that requires the king’s approval before debating any bills.