In an article for Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper, Hatoon Al-Fassi wrote about Saudi Arabia’s municipality elections that are set to take place at the end of next year. She reminded readers of the outcome of the first elections and the fact that, for several reasons, women did not vote in them.

The official reason was that having women candidates was going to be the second step after establishing the idea of elections and, as far as women voters were concerned, it was said that there were no facilities for women at the polling stations. Whatever we choose to believe, the fact remains that women were not part of the experience and now, a full year before the second municipal elections, women’s voices are being heard, demanding that this time they be allowed to participate.

It is anyone’s guess as to what will happen but Saudi women need to look closely at the Kuwaiti experience in order to gain more insight into women and elections. In the wake of the recent Kuwaiti elections, we are left with many facts to consider. One of these is that despite their large numbers, Kuwaiti women failed to put their candidates into Parliament.

We are told that women amount to 58 percent of Kuwait’s voters which should have given them a better than average chance of electing members to Parliament — but it didn’t happen. Among the reasons analysts cite is that women don’t have much of a chance in a tribal society; another point is that many women voters do not support women candidates.

Yet some point out the fact that one woman managed to get 5,000 votes — which might reflect a change on the way in Kuwait. Many say that women’s political experience is still limited and that things will take time but that the day will come when women are elected to Parliament.

How much of this can we relate to Saudi women? How much is applicable to us?

For a start, Saudi women have no experience in elections; as mentioned above, they did not vote in the municipal elections but they hope to get the right by the time of the next election next year. If that happens, that will be the beginning; perhaps their chances of being elected are minimal — at least if we judge by events in Kuwait.

But we should not overlook the fact that Kuwaiti society is much more tolerant of women’s participation in the government — the government supports women; a woman was appointed to Parliament in the last election and Kuwait also had a woman minister. All that is very different from our situation in Saudi Arabia but it should certainly give us some hope.

As for the other factors that were obstacles for Kuwaiti women, we can see that the tribal connection is of considerable influence here just as it was there. Also, Saudi women are still fighting to take their first step politically whereas their Kuwaiti sisters are already some way along the road.

It was interesting — though completely expected — to see that most readers’ comments on Dr. Hatoon’s article raged against women’s demands, insisting that the role of women was in the home. We have heard that before and it is no surprise; nor were the comments that women just might have some place outside their homes and families surprising either. We have a range of opinions here.

We need to bear in mind that women — whether Kuwaiti or Saudi — are not the most dedicated supporters of women’s demands and women’s rights. In fact, there are many women in the Kingdom who are strongly opposed to women’s participation in politics. Realistic thought suggests that the situation will remain the way it is for some time.

In other words, women might not get their deserved chance next time around. That does not mean, however, that we should stop calling for our rights or working for them.

We have to keep up the momentum, remain united in our aims and realize that the changes are well worth the fight needed to obtain them.