(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: The Shoura Council is currently reviewing legislation overseeing municipal councils and has rejected and approved several amendments proposed by the Council of Ministers.
In a closed session the Shoura committee dealing with the law rejected an amendment proposed by the Cabinet specifying that women participating in the Dec. 12 elections must abide by Islamic law according to a report in a local publication recently.
The Shoura stated that this was unnecessary because it is already mandatory for everyone in the country to abide by the principles and laws outlined in the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him.
The Shoura also rejected an amendment that it should be mandatory for the Finance Ministry to approve the budgets of municipal councils. It also said it was opposed to a change that seeks to appoint a high-ranking municipal employee on each council.
The Shoura approved an amendment that ministers may not issue regulations related to the appointment of election supervisors if these people work for other independent monitoring authorities.
It also approved an amendment that criminalizes donations to election officials under certain circumstances.
The Shoura did not comment on other amendments put forward by the Council of Ministers and agreed to hold another closed session to review these proposals.
Among the recommendations the Shoura has made to the Council of Ministers is a requirement to review the law every two years.
The municipal elections will be held between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Dec. 12 with the results announced the following day according to reports.
The whole election process including campaigning by candidates takes place over three months.

Voters can register between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. from Aug. 22 to Sept. 14. Candidates can do so from Aug. 30 to Sept. 17.
Preliminary lists of candidates will be published on Sept. 30 while the last date for withdrawal is Nov. 19 when the final list of candidates will be announced.