Women running for the board of directors of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry have nothing to worry about. That's because they have two women taking care of them: Lama Sulaiman and Nashwas Taher, both winners of seats on the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's board of director in the 2005 election. “Focus, unite and win over men's trust – and votes,” both Sulaiman and Taher advised Saudi businesswomen in Riyadh during a meeting held by the RCCI. The meeting aimed to familiarize businesswomen with the election experiences Saudi women had had in Jeddah's 2005 elections. The RCCI will hold its board election in August. This is the third time that women run for public office at one of the Kingdom's chambers of commerce and industry. Sulaiman and Taher made history by winning seats on the JCCI's board in 2005. They were two out of 17 women who ran that year, while the 10 other seats went to businessmen. However, the surprise victory of women in Jeddah was not to repeat itself with women in the Eastern Province during the Dammam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's elections in 2006. None of the female candidate won. “I was very disappointed by the Eastern Province elections,” Taher told business women in Riyadh, “but I hope you have a better chance in Riyadh.” As for now, the primary question is whether a good number of women would run, not to mention whether they would win. So far, nearly four months before the election, not a single businesswoman has yet announced her candidacy. Perhaps the fact that only 10 businesswomen members of the RCCI attended the meeting with Sulaiman and Taher is a telling one. All of them told the Saudi Gazette that they were not interested in running, but will be supportive of those who do decide to run, which somehow contradicts the whole point of Sulaiman's and Taher's efforts. “Don't let them give you a green light to do anything and then end up not using it,” said Sulaiman. “Run, and try to get as many women to run. Of course, not all of you would win, but it's important to make a statement with the sheer number of women who run. The more, the better, and the stronger the statement would be for society that you are ready.” “It's important for as many women to run,” said Taher, “The RCCI should play an encouraging role in getting women to run.” Both Taher and Sulaiman said society should also be ready for women to run, or the campaign would be doomed to failure. “Jeddah was ready, the society there was ready, and both men and women were ready for women to become board members and make decisions,” said Taher. “They knew the importance of having female voices heard on the board. I know Riyadh is very much different from Jeddah, but only you can tell if the society you live in is ready for such a step and how to handle your society.” Sulaiman suggested conducting a study that would probe the readiness of Riyadh's perception of women running in the RCCI election, the obstacles women might face upon running and how to overcome them, as well as how to encourage men to vote for women. Sulaiman advised potential candidates to try to get support from leaders in the Saudi capital to publicly support women candidates. “After women got the public support of the late Prince Abdulmajeed, the previous Emir (of Riyadh,) may he rest in peace, the rest of the community, and especially the men, rallied up behind us,” said Sulaiman. While several of Riyadh's businesswomen who attended the meeting agreed that the city's society was less prepared for voting for female candidates as board directors than communities in cities like Jeddah, the fact that Saudi businesswomen have already been members of various committees alongside men at the RCCI has set a precedent. “Currently, we already have 24 women members of various business committees at the chamber,” said Princess Helah Bint Abdurrahman Aal Saud, Manager of the women's branch at the RCCI. “This is encouraging,” Taher told the small gathering of businesswomen. “We didn't have this advantage when we ran, so the men already know you are participating and are effective.” Taher advised the potential candidates not to run solo, but within a group. “You need the support of the men, so when you run within a party of men, they can represent you in male meetings, they will also defend you and your cause in the presence of other men and voters.” The readiness of the male-dominated groups in Riyadh to invite female members to run with them has yet to be tested. However, Huda Al-Jeraisy, Chairwoman of the National Committee for Women at the Council for the Chambers of Commerce, said that she sees some groups ready to invite female candidates to join them, while other parties are still closed to the idea. “I don't think female candidates would have any problems in gaining the male votes of active members of the RCCI, because they are already used to working with us through the committees,” said Jeraisy. “The problem will be convincing the businessmen outside of the RCCI.” During the campaign and after winning the seats, Sulaiman advised not only to focus on women's issues, but also focus on general business problems which face both men and women in business. “In this way, the men will feel that you are also looking after their interests, and will have greater support for you,” said Sulaiman. “I have to admit that after winning, I did look into women's issues, but my focus was general.” __
