The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia were held in 2005 to fill only half of the seats of municipal councils while the other half was appointed by the Ministry of Interior. In general, all council members had considerably limited powers and women were not allowed to participate as candidates or even as voters. One official went so far as to declare that women would never be able to vote, not to mention to be candidates, because they had no national identity cards that were separate from their male guardians in addition to the opposition from conservatives as well as other cultural barriers. Little did he know, because 10 years later, Saudi women do not only have identification cards, but have become members of the Shoura (Consultative) Council and now are participating in the third cycle of the municipal elections fulfilling the promise of the late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz. Moreover, in this municipal election, two thirds of the members will be elected as opposed to one half, and the members will have more power which will enable them to truly make a difference in their municipalities. As expected, the participation of women in this municipal election has been highly publicized making international headlines, especially because the registration period coincided with Women's Equality Day on August 26, the day in 1920 when women in the United States were granted the right to vote. The fact that Saudi women will vote in the municipal elections is definitely a great accomplishment that should be celebrated with the rest of the world. However, people should not fall into the trap of comparison and contrast between the status of women in the West and in Saudi Arabia because when this happens, it is usually associated with generalizations and stereotypes which undermine the pleasure that we take in this victory and it is unfair to all involved. Women's suffrage in the United States preceded Saudi Arabia by a century and was only accomplished after American women had fought for it for nearly another century. Saudi Arabia, as we know it, was not even born at the time when American women won the right to vote and, of course, we have completely different political systems and cultures, which create a whole different set of obstacles and expectations. Municipal elections are still a novelty for Saudi men as well as women and we must solve our own problems in order for our society to experience healthy development. Even now after Saudi women have been granted the right to vote, there are still more obstacles in the way of making that happen. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has reported a low turnout of Saudi women voters and candidates for the City Council Elections in Makkah and Madinah. The Baladi Initiative General Coordinator Hatoun Al-Fasi has argued that the low turnout in these two cities is not necessarily because Saudi women do not want to participate in the elections, but rather might be due to a lack of awareness of the significance of the elections as well as of the steps that must be taken in order to participate in them. She asserted in a report in this newspaper that the Ministry refused to allow Baladi, which is part of a women's rights campaign run by Saudi women who have been strong proponents of women's right to vote, to raise awareness regarding elections through workshops. She said: “The ministry's only media of marketing is the online platform and it is not enough. There has been hardly any visibility of the elections campaign in shopping centers, schools, universities and other places which Saudi women frequent and work in.” Other obstacles that have been reported include finding the location of the centers where women can register to vote, which are sometimes difficult to find as they are not as evident as the men's centers. Moreover, there is a tedious process of completing paperwork and bureaucratic procedures, which are further hindered by the male guardianship system and the fact that women are not allowed to drive to get themselves anywhere in the first place. In order to help with transportation, Careem, which is a car service company, has offered free rides to women from September 7-14 to the election polls in response to the Wall Street Journal's Saudi correspondent Ahmed Al-Omran who in a tweet urged them to help Saudi women. Saudi women have managed to make huge leaps while still in shackles and will continue to do so with the support of the Saudi government until they are completely free to work to build a better future for the Kingdom's future generations alongside their male counterparts. — The writer can be reached at [email protected]
