Saudi women face off against men for first time in elections
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Outside of the Saudi capital, in one of
the country's most conservative provinces, Jowhara al-Wably is making
history. She's running in this weekend's elections.
Saturday's vote for local council seats marks two milestones
for Saudi women: Not only can they run in a government election for the
first time, it is the first time they are permitted to vote at all.
The municipal councils are the only government body in which
Saudi citizens can elect representatives, so the vote is widely seen as
a small but significant opening for women to play a more equal role in
Saudi society.
Still, women face challenges on the campaign trail: Because
of Saudi Arabia's strict policy of segregation of the sexes, they cannot
address male voters directly and have to speak from behind a partition —
or have male relatives speak for them.
In an effort to create a more level playing field, the
General Election Committee banned both male and female candidates from
showing their faces in promotional flyers, billboards or in social
media. They're also not allowed to appear on television.
This suits al-Wably, a 52-year-old community activist and
Ministry of Education employee. Like all women in Saudi Arabia, she
wears a loose-flowing black robe called an "abaya." She also covers her
face and hair under a veil called a "niqab" when in public.
When she meets with female voters, she talks to them at the
hotel conference hall she's rented in Buraydah, 220 miles (350
kilometers) northwest of Riyadh. But when she makes her pitch to male
voters this week, she won't be doing the talking. Her two sons, both in
their mid-20s, her husband and her brothers will address the male crowd
and she won't be present.
With around 5,000 men registered to vote in her district
compared to 620 registered female voters, al-Wably says she can't afford
to rely solely on Internet campaigning through Twitter and Facebook to
reach men.
"I want to be part of the development of my city," she told
The Associated Press. "I want to be a positive force on the ground in my
community."
While the councils do not have legislative powers, they do
oversee a range of community issues, such as budgets for maintaining and
improving public facilities like parks, roads and utilities. All major
decision-making powers rest solely in the hands of King Salman and the
all-male Cabinet of ministers.
The first local council election was held in 2005 and the
second in 2011, with only men taking part. This time around,
state-affiliated media report there are 979 female candidates and 5,938
male candidates vying for seats. About 130,000 women have registered to
vote versus 1.35 million male voters.
Up for grabs are around 2,100 council seats. An additional
1,050 seats are appointed with approval from the king. While there is no
quota for women, the king may use his powers to ensure at least some
women get onto the councils.
While calling the vote a "step forward for women," Rothna
Begum of Human Rights Watch noted that because male candidates cannot
directly address women, they could easily disregard the female vote
because it is proportionally so much smaller. And the high cost of
running a visible campaign has proven prohibitive for some female
candidates, she said; at least 31 dropped out because it was too
expensive.
At his campaign headquarters in Saudi Arabia's
second-largest city of Jiddah, Bassam Akhdar said he allocated a night
specifically to reach out to the female electorate, with female staff
lined up to explain his platform.
But no women showed up and none have passed by his office to
inquire about his campaign. So he ended up allocating the entire space
to his male constituency, who come every night to hear and meet him.
"I would be happy to have a woman's vote. This is a gain for
me," said the 47-year-old businessman, who won a seat in the past two
elections — and spent $106,000 (400,000 riyals) on his latest campaign.
Despite vast differences between Saudi Arabia's cultural
sensitivities and the bombast often associated with campaigns in the
West, criticism of women's participation has largely been muted, though
one prominent cleric warned against this being a Western-style election.
Sheikh Abdelrahman al-Barrack admonished his more than
161,000 followers on Twitter that the vote is not religiously
permissible if it Westernizes the "land of the two holy mosques," a
reference to the holy sites in Mecca and Medina, and when it allows for
the mixing of men and women.
The decision to allow women to take part is seen as part of
the late King Abdullah's legacy. Before he died in January, the king
appointed 30 women to the country's top advisory Shura Council. Women
were also given licenses to practice law, and labor rules were changed
to allow women to work as sales clerks in lingerie and women's clothing
stores. The government also began issuing identification cards for
women.
In the Saudi capital, Riyadh, 40-year-old candidate Randa
Baraja said her No. 1 supporter has been her father.
"He is very keen about education and the idea that women
ought to rely on themselves. ... My brothers are supportive too," said
Baraja, a health care professional.
Still, when she presented her campaign platform to a group
of men this week, she did not stand in front of them. In line with
election rules she was out of view behind a partition; she used a
projector and a microphone to discuss her ideas, while a camera feed
allowed her to see those in attendance.
For Saudi women and men, this kind of
interaction is not unusual. The kingdom distinguishes
itself as an Islamic state that upholds one of the
strictest policies of segregation of the sexes in the
world, enforced by the kingdom's morality police.
Though men and women work alongside each
other in places such as banks and hospitals, unmarried
men and women are prohibited from socially mixing — in
both public and private. At female college campuses,
male lecturers often communicate via a one-way camera
feed that allows students to see the professor. At
restaurants, women have "family only" entrances to
separate them from single men.
Women are barred from driving and are
governed by guardianship laws that require them to have
the permission of male relatives in order to marry,
obtain a passport, travel abroad or access higher
education. Many private hospitals require such
permission for women to undergo medical procedures.
Marina Ottoway, a senior scholar at the
Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said this weekend's
elections will not represent a turning point for the
status of women.
"They are simply a very small step in a very
long process of change for women and for citizens in
general," she said, adding that it's too soon to tell
whether this is the first in a series of steps or
whether change stops here.
Still, Baraja says the election is a chance
for women to leave a mark on their communities. In her
district, 23 men and 23 women are vying for two seats on
the council. She says there are around 9,600 registered
male voters and a little more than 300 registered female
voters.
"The competition is big and the campaigning
took a lot of effort and time. ... But in general what
is making me enjoy each step I take is that I feel I
have the skills and the ideas to contribute to my
community," she said.
"When I am in the street and see the roads
are not paved well and there are potholes, and the (lack
of) cleanliness in some areas, we can make it better and
more beautiful ... with simple ideas that do not cost a
lot," she said.
___
Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/ayaelb
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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