Saudi women begin first-ever election campaign

Haifa al-Hababi is the first woman to ever register as a political candidate in Saudi Arabia.

Talking about the upcoming election, Poll Executive Committee Chairman Spokesman Jadeei Al-Qahtani said that the municipal elections are being monitored by the General Election Observers and handled by civil society institutions, including the Human Rights Association, who are allowed to enter polling centers.

Municipal elections are due to take place in Saudi Arabia on December 12, and the candidates have officially launched their campaign this week.

More than 900 women are running for public office in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, a country that granted partial suffrage to women only four years ago, CNN reports. The absolute monarchy, which applies its strict interpretation of Islam, has faced widespread criticism for its lack of equal rights.

“I’m not excited by the idea of winning”, Ms. Hathloul, who was arrested and sentenced to 73 days in prison earlier this year for participating in a campaign to allow women to drive, told The Telegraph. This decision was met by feminine support, as a Saudi local in her twenties said, “We will vote for the women even though we don’t know anything about them”.

Data cited by the Saudi electoral commission shows a total of about 7,000 people vying for seats on the 284 councils.

Since succeeding Abdullah in January, King Salman has seemed uninterested in female political reforms, and there will probably be “less pressure to expand political rights for women if they don’t exercise the limited ones they now have”.

Aside from transport problems, women say their voter registration was hindered by bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of awareness of the process and its significance. Though the voting age has-been lowered to 18 from 21 & the proportion of elected council members has increased to two-thirds, profitable a seat remains a challenge for ladies in electorates where male voters vastly outnumber females.

Hossaini said she had hoped to set up a campaign tent in Riyadh’s Diriyah area. “I don’t know why”, she said.

While Al-Sadah expressed satisfaction at the number of female candidates, she said “very few” women have registered to vote. Electoral democracy continues to be a novel concept in a rustic where tribal loyalties stay robust & things historically get done via “wasta” – figuring out the right people.

“I think we need to change the whole system”, she says.

“Now it’s time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function and live a normal life without a male guardian”.

“We strive for development and real change, free from tribal or family biases”, said Mr Saud al-Shammry, 43, of Riyadh.

“Why not? They are just there to decorate the government anyway”, he said.