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Question: How can an election in which women are not allowed to run or vote, which is restricted to the municipal level and in which voters are allowed to elect only half of their city councils be vitally important?  

Answer: When it’s held in Saudi Arabia.  

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005, will enter the history books as the day of the very first election in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a land that has been ruled with a tight fist by its namesake royal family since its establishment 80 years ago. Elections in the Palestinian territories and in Iraq last month did not in any way diminish the importance of the Saudi election. It was front-page news in the Arab press, including in Saudi newspapers, and was the subject of commentaries and columns throughout the region.  

A leading Saudi daily published in London, Asharq Al-Awsat, dedicated four front-page columns to a photo of a Saudi man holding up his son to drop his voting paper in the ballot box. Usually photos on this page are reserved for royal family members in routine acts of governing.  

In a commentary in the same paper, Amir Taheri called the election a significant historical day for the Kingdom on three levels. First, because it proved that people are capable of choosing for themselves. Second, because there was no public opposition to the election. And third, because the election gave a snapshot of the middle class in Saudi society, which is forging new cultural and social structures and overcoming the old tribal limits. Taheri concludes optimistically, predicting more reform and democracy in the near future.  

The Al-Watan daily in the capital city of Riyadh, where the first installment of voting took place, ran comprehensive coverage of the elections. Some of the headlines, stories, and comments could not have been published in a Saudi paper even just the day before. Along with the usual beat reporting, coverage included such reports as, “A Minister Couldn’t Vote When He Arrived Late,” “Candidates Blow Kisses to Get Votes,” “Candidates Picked for Wealth or Kinship, But Plans and Reputations Came First,” and “Mosques Became Campaigning Sites.” A reporter in the paper noted in his article that an election culture is beginning to “run in the blood of citizens.”  

The English language daily Arab News led its coverage with headlines such as, “High Hopes Abound for Fledgling Reforms,” “Saudis Vote in Historic Election” and “Women Can’t Be Left Far Behind.” Al-Hayat, another daily, reflected on the historic meaning of the municipal election.  

Beirut’s newspapers were no less excited. The headline in the Al-Mustaqbal daily, published in Beirut and distributed heavily in Saudi Arabia, called the elections a historic day passed in peace and order. As-Safir Daily wrote, “Saudi Arabia broke a psychological barrier with the ballot box.” But An-Nahar, Beirut’s leading daily, underscored the absence of women from the electorate, calling the elections “a first step waiting for the women’s vote.”  

In Kuwait, Al-Qabas’ headline read, “Saudis voted for reform in historic elections...and women are sad.” It quoted a Saudi official and member of the royal family, Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, who promised some form of national elections based on the success of the municipal one.  

However, the excitement was not enough to dismiss the forced absence of women. While most reports included some vague promises of women’s future participation, other columnists attacked the issue head-on. In her column titled, “For Men Only,” Sahar Ba’aseeri of An-Nahar Beirut called the election deficient and asserted that any reform that does not include women is doomed to fail.  

Karim Albedani of Al-Badeel in Baghdad, Iraq, labeled the election, “Men’s democracy of extremism.” He wrote that religion was no excuse for excluding women from the polls and saw this justification as pure dictatorial tactics.  

The municipal elections in Saudi Arabia will be conducted in three stages. The first was held in the capital Alreyad and the surrounding areas. The next election, on March 3, will cover the eastern provinces of the kingdom. The final stage will take place in the western regions on April 17.  

There were 1,818 candidates competing for 127 seats in yesterday’s elections.  

Veteran Arab journalist and New California Media associate Mohamad Ozeir is a former editor of the Arab American Journal. ›