Saudi Arabia holds last elections before women get vote

September 30, 2011|Associated Press

Saudi men cast ballots yesterday during municipal elections in Riyadh,… (Hassan Ammar/Associated…)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia held its second-ever nationwide vote yesterday, a male-only election for powerless municipal councils. The balloting comes just days after the king decreed that women will be able to participate for the first time in the next local elections in 2015, a measure probably aimed at heading off Arab Spring-style dissent in the kingdom.

The election and Sunday’s decree to give women the vote are two examples of the baby steps King Abdullah has been taking to modernize his oil-rich nation since he ascended the throne in 2005. Though small, they are significant by the standards of his ultraconservative country - home to Islam’s holiest shrines and vastly influenced by the clerical establishment.

Still, the reforms signal the ruling family is not ready for deep change, even as popular uprisings are transforming the face of an Arab world long accustomed to absolute monarchs, dictators, and fraudulently elected leaders.

“They are glacial changes,’’ Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Center in Doha, Qatar, said of the recent decree on women. “But King Abdullah is the only man who can push change. Unfortunately, it has been too slow.’’

The Saudi kingdom lags far behind its Arab neighbors when it comes to basic rights, freedoms, and gender equality. The king rules with absolute power and shows zero tolerance for political dissent.

The ruling Al-Saud family has a near monopoly on top government posts. Women are barred from driving and they cannot be members of the Cabinet. They cannot travel, be admitted to a hospital, or take a job without permission from a male guardian.

If giving women the right to vote was hailed as a courageous step by the king, some saw it as almost purely symbolic.

“It was a bold and unexpected move,’’ said blogger Eman al-Nafjan. “It is a start, but what we really need are reforms that improve women’s lot in their everyday life.’’