Editorial: A major step in Saudi women’s empowerment

There will be something about tomorrow that Saudi Arabia’s critics will not want to see. They will try to close their eyes because what will be happening will prove them wrong. What will occur will hollow out their attacks, showing them up as mean-minded propaganda.
Tomorrow Saudis go to the polling booths to elect local councilors. For the first time women will be among the voters. And for the first time also, women will be among the candidates.
While this is undoubtedly historic, it should not be seen as surprising. Contrary to ill-informed outside opinion, Saudi women are very far from being second-class citizens. Female executives run or play key roles in some of the Kingdom’s most important companies. Many are prominent members of chambers of commerce. There are also leading academics, researchers, lawyers and health professionals who are female. For some years now, women have served on the Shoura Council. Their invaluable contribution there has been recognized both by their male fellow Shoura council members as well as by the government. There is also a female undersecretary at the Ministry of Education.
None of these positions occupied by Saudi women could be described as “tokenism.” The significance of women within the Kingdom cannot be exaggerated. It is just that these days, their role has assumed a higher profile.
Tomorrow voters will be choosing more than 2,100 members to serve on 284 local councils for a basic term of four years. These local authorities now enjoy a high degree of financial and administrative independence. A third of councilors in each municipality will continue to be appointed by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
Almost one-and-a-half million people have registered to vote. Some ten percent of them are women. There are sound reasons behind the gradual take-up of the universal franchise. Since last March there have been a series of programs designed to raise public awareness of the importance of the local elections. The Baladi Initiative has focused its attention on women. It has run a series of workshops designed to strengthen their participation in local politics. An unfortunate limit to its resources meant the Baladi program could not be run 0in absolutely every council area.
But as will almost certainly be apparent after tomorrow’s votes have been counted, its awareness-raising campaign will have sowed some powerful seeds. When Saudi women next go to the voting booths in four years’ time, they will be able to assess the effectiveness of the women candidates to be chosen tomorrow. If the Kingdom’s new female local councilors contribute as strongly as other women have on the Shoura Council, then it can be expected that the female vote in 2019 will be greater.
Something else needs to be said to those who wish only to find fault with the Kingdom. These elections have been run with scrupulous fairness. Campaign literature has been carefully supervised. In past male-only elections, the candidates frequently used photographs of themselves on their campaign literature. Because of the obvious sensitivities, it was widely agreed that female candidates would not use pictures of themselves. To ensure a level playing field, it was therefore decided that no candidate would portray themselves.
The ballot itself will be watched by a wide range of monitors from non-governmental organizations and civil society bodies. A rapid and thorough process using independent observers will resolve any disputes.
These are the third municipal elections to be held in the Kingdom. Inevitably, some councils have performed better than others. The voters now have a chance to replace those councilors they figure have not done well enough. This accountability has improved governance. Women have already made an excellent contribution in so many other walks of Saudi society. Now their impact will be extended to local administration. The significance is likely to be huge.
Historically women have always played a powerful role in the family. Their public empowerment is a logical evolution. It reflects the careful but consistent approach of the Kingdom to change.
The results of tomorrow’s election will be analyzed to see how many women were elected and how the franchise among registered women voters was exercised. Did women favor female candidates over male? Did male voters decide that good governance would be further enhanced by choosing female councilors?
But the real importance is that this major step in the empowerment of Saudi women has been taken.