There are many who believe that women should not be involved with what happens outside the walls of their houses. If that is so, women obviously should not participate in the coming municipal elections as either voter or candidate.
Not everyone of course would agree with this opinion. After all, women are affected when they cannot find a public municipal park where their children can play and exercise. Women are affected when a sewage pipe bursts in the street in front of their houses and affects their health and that of their children. Women are affected when the school in their neighborhood is not well equipped and prepared to teach their children. Women are affected when a shopping center, causing traffic jams and other problems, opens near their houses. There are many other things that affect women which I will not mention. I will note, however, that whatever affects men also affects women.
It is a woman’s civil right as a Saudi citizen to participate in the municipal election as a candidate or as a voter. Women are a vital part of this country. The government has spent enormous sums of money to educate them so that they can participate and assist in economic, cultural, political and social development. What pleases us is that women have not been banned from participating in the municipal elections.
In the official article, candidates are identified as “every citizen who fulfills the conditions for candidature.” If the meaning were males only, the article would have specified clearly — as in Kuwait where the wording is “for males only.” Every citizen means both males and females. Women can participate without any violation of Islamic traditions.
