lived victory in civic polls * Muhtasibeen's ploy does not work in Taif * Winner in Riyadh raps ‘enemies of women' DAMMAM — A female candidate's elation over her victory in this week's municipal elections turned out to be only a short-lived one. She remained on the list of winners for 90 minutes before her name was replaced by a man who got more votes than her. Khatmah Bint Mohammed Dighriri was announced winner in Hafr Al-Batin and remained on the list of winners for an hour and a half before the committee supervising the elections realized its mistake and altered the result. The committee announced the names of six winners in the region including the woman who only obtained 16 votes. The committee did not explain how the mistake had happened but announced that Mohammed Bin Darhoum Al-Harbe was the real winner with 272 votes. On the other hand, all six candidates, who were strongly supported by the Muhtasibeen (religious men) in Taif, have failed to make their presence felt. The Muhtasineen asked the voters never to give their votes to women candidates alleging that this was against Islam and asked them instead to vote for their six male candidates. On the eve of the elections, the Muhtasibeen issued a strong-worded statement claiming that voting for women candidates was against Islam. They asked the voters, instead, to give their votes to six specific male candidates. The voters did not heed their advice and voted for women and disregarded the six candidates favored by the Muhtasibeen who were shocked not to find their names in the list of winners. In Tabuk, a wave of sadness lurked over the city for the loss of all the women candidates. However, women in the city organized celebrations expressing happiness just over their participation in the elections for the first time as voters and candidates. However, in the small town of Al-Bidaa, 250 km away from Tabuk, Muna Al-Omairi had something for the womenfolk to cheer by winning a seat in the municipal council. She was one of two victorious women in the entire region. Al-Omairi said she was not sure that she would win but decided to go on with her candidacy anyway. "My optimism thinned out in view of the large number of male candidates. However I was not down and opted to go ahead with the experience," she said. She said she was greatly supported by her tribe and relatives who encouraged her and contributed effectively in her victory. Meanwhile, Masooma Al-Abdl Riza and Sanaa Al-Hamam, registered their names as the first two women to be members of the municipal council in Al-Ahsa. Riza, who obtained 420 votes, said she was expecting to win because of the confidence in her ability to serve the residents of the eastern city. "I am happy and proud. I also thank those who did not vote for me. I will do my best to serve the community," she said. Hamam, on her part, was also happy and proud. She said she was sure that she would represent all the women of the region in the council. "I was sure that I would win because of my complete confidence in Allah and the people around me," she said. Alya Al-Ruwaili, who won in Riyadh, accused the "enemies of women and success" to have cut the lines while she was talking to a TV space channel. "The men against the women and their success, who are too many, disrupted the communications while I was talking on air to a TV interviewer," she said.
