JEDDAH, 13 October 2004 — Saudi women will not be able to take part in this year’s nationwide municipal elections due to time constraints, Prince Mansour ibn Miteb, chairman of the General Committee for Municipal Elections, said yesterday.

“The law does not prevent women’s participation in the elections but studies have found that their participation this year will be difficult,” he told reporters after launching the media campaign for the elections in the Riyadh region.

Prince Mansour, however, pointed out that the committee had received nominations from women to contest elections. “There were also media reports in Saudi and foreign press on women’s participation,” he said and hoped that women would be able to participate in future elections.

“After the completion of the first elections, we’ll take into consideration the views and demands including women’s participation and the next election committee will take a decision on this matter,” he explained.

Two more Saudi women, this time from the Eastern Province, have nominated themselves for the forthcoming nationwide municipal elections, due to be held in three phases from February to March 2005.

Najat Al-Shafei of Seyhat and Shadia Al-Bayat of Al-Qateef announced their intention of nominating themselves in an exclusive interview with Arab News, if women are ultimately allowed to participate in the elections.

Interior Minister Prince Naif on Sunday said he thought it was not likely that women would be allowed to vote or run in the forthcoming elections.

“If women are not allowed to run this time around, I think the government should allocate a quota for women among the appointed members of the councils,” explained Al-Shafei, who teaches English to high school students.

“This is the first time that Saudi women are running for such positions, and maybe there is little hope after discouraging comments from some government officials, but I still feel this is a step forward for our children,” said Al-Bayat in a telephone interview from Bahrain. “We must change the Saudi women’s situation. We see how women have improved in other Gulf countries, and we would like some of the same.”

Only half of the members of the 178 municipal councils will be directly elected by Saudis, with the other half appointed by the government.

Election officials in Riyadh have claimed that the lack of qualified women to run women’s-only registration centers and polling stations, plus the fact that only a small percentage of Saudi women have photo-identity cards needed for voting, were the main obstacles in women participating in the elections.

Hatoon Al-Fassi, one of the main advocates of women participating in elections, and an assistant professor of history at King Saud University in Riyadh, said she believed the government would be able to cope with female voters.

“These excuses have already been widely discussed among us women. There is enough time for the registration of women, and the Ministry of the Interior could set up special kiosks at voter registration centers to issue IDs to women,” said Al-Fassi. “They could even allow women to use their Saudi passports as valid forms of ID for voting. Even if just 10 percent are enabled to vote, I think they should be allowed to.”

She told Arab News that she sent a 10-point letter to the director of the Higher Committee for Elections at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs three weeks ago, outlining all the concerns brought up and possible solutions for them.

“Yes, I still do have hope,” said Al-Fassi when asked if she still thought women would be allowed to vote. “There’s still room to negotiate.”

Three other Saudi women nominated themselves for the elections on Sept. 28, setting the ball rolling for other women to throw their hats into the ring.

Fatin Bundagji of Jeddah, Nadia Bakhurji and Fatma Al-Khereiji, both of Riyadh, all have common platforms with the latest two entrants: All want to improve local neighborhoods; build community centers; increase green areas; and protect the environment. Al-Shafei has a particular concern in protecting the Arabian Gulf coastline by cleaning up beaches, stopping the dumping of sewage and garbage into the water, and stopping uncontrolled building near beaches.

— Additional input from Adel Al-Thaqeel