JEDDAH, 15 July 2006 — The recent appointment of six women as part-time consultants in the Shoura Council and as the Kingdom’s representatives in women’s conferences abroad could be a step toward a larger role for women’s participation in the council, said the vice president of the Shoura Council, the Kingdom’s unelected consultative body.
However, many women who have been calling for the inclusion of women as members in the council, especially in light of religious texts supporting this right, say the move falls far short of what they ultimately desire.
The six women have been selected by the president of the council to advise on issues concerning women and to represent Saudi Arabia in conferences abroad, such as the Women Parliamentarians’ Regional Conference held last week in Bahrain. The appointments have reignited the debate about women’s participation in the Shoura Council.
“With regard to the functioning of the council, the president needed a group of women consultants whose opinions and views could be sought about a range of issues,” Mahmoud Taiba, vice president of the council, told Arab News.
Taiba added that the women would also participate with other women in giving women’s views and suggestions in other committee meetings. The six women began their consultant role with the council about three months ago and are contracted for a single year subject to renewal.
“This move toward women’s participation could be a step for a larger role of women in the council’s future work,” said Taiba.
Many women have agreed that the appointment is a positive move. Some, however, expressed reservations on the role and the women who have been selected.
“The role of these women is a limited one. They are not members, they are part-time consultants, they will be called on women’s issues ‘only’ and fundamentally their advice is not binding. Therefore, I don’t believe that this step will lead to gaining political rights in the near future,” said Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi, assistant professor of history at King Saud University.
“In addition, there is the fact that four out of the six are considered to belong to an ultra-conservative line of thought.”
She suggested that the council should give women full membership and a right to have an input on all the issues discussed in the council. “There is no issue that is specific to women and another to men only. The national issues, whether they are political, economic, social, educational or religious, are all specific to all members of society, i.e. men and women,” she explained.
She also emphasized the need for transparency. “The decision to have six women Shoura consultants was not on the Shoura Council website, or on SPA’s website, or in any newspaper other than Okaz, which is not accessible on the web. There has been complete obscurity on this matter,” she said.
Al-Fassi hoped that these respectable women “will not be a mere cosmetic appendage to the male-only council in order to beautify its image at the international level.”
Other women criticized the women who were selected by the council. According to sources close to the issue, over a hundred women from various regions, backgrounds and professions were recommended. Some women criticized the council’s decision to select only six women, the criteria from which they were selected, the process by which they were chosen and the fact that several of the women are related to council members.
Dr. Suhaila Zainul Abideen Hammad, senior member of the National Society for Human Rights, had urged authorities to appoint women to the Shoura Council emphasizing that the Shariah does not prevent women from taking part in the Shoura. She also pointed out that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Caliphs consulted women on issues concerning the whole Muslim nation and not just issues concerning women.
She rejected justifications claiming that Saudi society is not ready for women on the Shoura or that there is a need to segregate men and women as some people claimed. Others including Shoura members said that there is no need to have women in the council as long as they are being consulted on issues concerning them.
