While the municipal elections have been indefinitely postponed, much to the dismay of many reform-minded Saudis, al-Hayat daily published a story today about an interesting development. According to the paper, the municipal councils have been secretly discussing a request by the ministry seeking the councils’ opinion on opening the doors to women to become members of the councils.
Unsurprisingly, councilmen are divided on the matter. While some of them welcome the inclusion of women in their chambers, other councilmen have their reservations. Abdulmuhsen Al al-Shiekh who heads Makka’s municipal council said he is against having women in the council, whether they were elected or appointed. He, however, is not against having women as voters.
This position might seem odd, but it’s actually similar to the position taken by some Islamists in Kuwait when the government there decided to give women their political rights and allow them to vote and run in the parliamentary elections.
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[...] News, being the dead tree paper that they are, failed to link the group. Here is a link. This is not the first time we hear of such calls. Problem is, the elections that were originally scheduled for 2009, have been [...]
[...] several postponements, the Saudi government finally decided to move ahead with the long-delayed municipal elections. [...]
[...] “Mec. Cela fait presque six ans depuis les dernières élections auxquelles les femmes n’ont pas eu le droit de participer. Qu’avez vous fait en attendant ?”, interpelle John Burgess du blog Crossroads Arabia. La question s’est même posée au sein de certains conseils municipaux, raconte Ahmed Al-Omran dans un post de blog. [...]