JEDDAH, 25 September — Organizations in Makkah and Madinah responsible for providing services to pilgrims have elected new boards of directors. The elections were seen as representing the democratic process at work in the Kingdom’s civil establishments.
Dr. Abu Baker Bagader, consultant for cultural affairs at the Ministry of Haj, told Arab News that the elections were conducted in a “very healthy and competitive atmosphere.” There was reportedly a heavy turnout in both the elections held by the Tawafa in Makkah and Adilla in Madinah.
In another first for the Kingdom, women participated in the voting, indirectly though. Women, who account for 50 percent of the shareholders of guides’ organizations, were allowed to cast proxy votes, through their legal representatives. Pilgrim guides’ organizations were set up recently as part of the Haj Ministry’s moves to reform and professionalize the centuries-old institution of guides’ groups, called Tawafa in Makkah and Adilla in Madinah. The move provided the service groups a status boost and an organizational structure.
Bagader said the Haj Ministry was involved in guides affairs for over 20 years, “primarily to preserve the history and heritage of the traditional groups.”
The ministry felt it necessary to transform the groups into a professional organization with proper administrative structure, rather than letting it float as a seasonal entity providing part-time employment to people in the holy cities.
“The changes have ensured better services to pilgrims, while enriching the profession and increasing profits,” he said. The first step in the restructuring process saw Tawafa groups becoming responsible for specific geographical areas of the Muslim world. Six such Tawafa groups have been set up, each run by shareholders who elect their own board of directors. Two-thirds of the directors are elected and the remaining is appointed by the Ministry of Haj, Bagader explained.
He said he was impressed by the first electoral process. “Elections were held in a very healthy atmosphere with candidates campaigning in a friendly but openly competitive environment”. He said it was the first time company shareholders have elected a board of directors in such an open manner. “We followed a number of procedures used by the chamber of commerce”, the first institution to conduct an election in Saudi Arabia.
About women’s participation in the voting, Bagader said it was a “good beginning” and it showed how the organization respected female shareholders. “I am confident that in future elections, women will play a bigger role. After all, many pilgrims are women and they need female guides (motawef) to look after them. The role of women in guides’ organizations is bound to increase; they will not be confined simply to being shareholders.”
Women guides have demanded an increase in the value of each share and a higher lump sum for groups with only a few shares. They have also sought to restore the right of female heirs to inherit from their mothers who were guides.
