DAMMAM: Businesswomen in the Eastern Province are making all-out efforts to ensure the victory of one or two of the three candidates in the Asharqia Chamber board elections. Despite their best efforts during last elections four years ago, no women could win seats on the board.
The campaigning has been pretty low key this time, but businesswomen associated with various organizations are involved in word-of-mouth and telephone campaigning and are doing all they can to impress upon the nearly 24,000 voters, most of whom are men, to cast their votes in favor of either Suad Alzaydi, Dina Al-Fares or Fowzia Al-Karri.
Prominent among those who leading the campaign for businesswomen’s victory in the Dec. 19-23 elections is Samia Al-Edrisi.
A well-known name in the Eastern Province business circles, Al-Edrisi participated in the last elections along with five other women candidates. She is not participating in the upcoming elections, but she is actively involved in campaigning for the three women in the race. Al-Edrisi spoke to Arab News on the challenges that women are facing in elections this time.
How are these elections different from last time?
Candidates in this election are running independently and not as part of a bloc as was the case previously. Voters are allowed to vote for one person only and check one name only on the ballot versus six names in the February 2006 elections. In addition, the time provided for candidates to campaign, from the announcement of the final list of candidates until the election date, is shorter than last time and did not allow for all the fanfare during the election period that was evident in the past.
Advertisements and media propaganda are prohibited this time as well. You can say the whole process is more understated. Women are still at a disadvantage despite the fact that this time they have had equal time as the men to prepare for their campaigns. This is simply because, in general, women have lesser resources, both financial and manpower, to allocate to their campaigns, and they are less willing to spend as much as the men.
From the businesswomen’s point of view, how important are these elections?
My biggest disappointment is that very meager efforts, if any, have been put forth by the ministry and Chamber of Commerce, the business community, and the Election Committee to educate our businesswomen and communities about the importance of participating in the election process as candidates and as voters. If we believe in the importance of women’s participation in the process and we know that women are new to this game, then it is imperative that no efforts are spared to better prepare and educate them. I cite as an example the first-time participation of women in the parliamentary elections in the UAE where a special commission was created solely to monitor and document these historic elections and spread awareness among both women and men in the communities.
How difficult was it for women to conduct campaigning and to reach out to voters across the length and breadth of the Eastern Province?
The three candidates in the race have printed brochures with their CVs and their platforms. They distributed them through various means. They used all available means of cyber-communication and, of course, word of mouth. I met all three of them and had one-on-one meetings with them. They have a great deal of enthusiasm to serve the business community and their country. They have many good ideas to put forth to the board if they are elected. The core of their campaign simply states that it is about time for a real partnership to exist between the men and women of this country and for women to be an integral part of the decision-making process.
You are part of Businesswomen’s Forum of the Eastern Province. What role is your forum playing in these elections?
There are no candidates this time from the forum. However, we are still very much involved in the process and are actively supporting the three candidates. We have offered our offices as headquarters for them, with all the logistical, secretarial support as well as the support of our members.
We have helped them with various tasks to launch their campaigns and organized an event for them to meet as many businesswomen as possible and introduce themselves and their election programs. We have taken the opportunity to inform the businesswomen about the election procedures and regulation so they are prepared and emphasized the importance of their participation and support.
Since you contested the elections last time, surely you will have a message to convey to the three candidates.
My advice to the candidates is to concentrate their efforts in tightening their strategies of reaching out to voters and getting as many votes as they can. This requires the combined efforts of many supporters, which I hope they will be able to acquire on polling days.
There are many voters who may not be planning to vote or don’t have a particular favorite among the male candidates; I urge those voters to take a look at the three women who are running in this election and give them a fighting chance. In doing so, they will be doing the chamber a huge favor, their country a big service, and making a significant contribution toward realizing the country’s and government’s objective of ensuring women’s participation in the growth and development of our country, both economically and socially.
