JEDDAH, 28 December 2005 — Results of the first-ever election to the Saudi Engineers Council were announced yesterday with a Saudi woman making history again by winning a seat on the 10-member board.
Nadia Bakhurji received 431 votes, the fifth highest among the winners, to join the hall of fame of women, who won elections in other organizations such as the Saudi Journalists Association and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Other winners of the Saudi Engineers Council were: Abdul Rahman Al-Rabea, who received 639 vote, Khaled Al-Sultan (533), Abdul Aziz Al-Ateshan (532), Saleh Al-Eidi (482), Abdullah Al-Sheikh (420), Daifallah Al-Otaibi (407), Abdul Aziz Al-Yousufi (400), Yahya Kaushak (387) and Ahmad Al-Yahya (351).
Of the nearly 5,000 members of the Saudi Engineers Council, there were 71 candidates in the running. Despite the low turnout of voters — only 30 percent members cast their ballots — the election was a success with personnel from different sectors such as from the municipality, Ministry of Commerce and chambers of commerce contributing their expertise.
“The entire process and organization prior to or during the elections went smoothly,” said Abdullah Khoja, the head of the Saudi Engineers Council in the Makkah region. “We were assisted by members from the Ministry of Commerce as well as the municipality,” he added.
When asked about the voting procedures followed for the Saudi women engineers and if separate times and places had been made for women to vote, Khoja told Arab News, “Unlike the voting at the chambers of commerce, women members cast their votes where and when their male counterparts did at least in the Makkah region.”
He explained that the number of Saudi women members of the council are only a handful, adding that a majority of them is from the Eastern Province as King Faisal University’s Engineering Department for Girls is located there.
Women’s presence was there from the beginning of the organization in 1982 when it was called the Saudi Engineers Committee. The Saudi Engineers Council was established three years ago. There are only 20 women among its 5,000 members, with only 1,500 casting their votes in the elections mostly in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah.
“There was never any exclusion of women engineers from the days of the Saudi Engineers Committee,” said Hashem Al-Shammari, manager of media and public relations. “There were never any regulations that excluded women from the membership of the association. That only one Saudi woman engineer came forward as a candidate is about personal choice.” Bakhurji feels her victory is one more step forward for Saudi women and not a singular triumph that reflected a measure of attitude change on behalf of men in the country as well. “Reactions to my coming forward as a candidate have been positive and supportive,” said Bakhurji.
“This marks a victory for all Saudi women whether in this field or any other.” She added, “The fact that men voted for me is a gauge of how men feel about the involvement of women. It also shows that they’re placing a lot of trust in me. It’s a great honor for me. What comes next is crucial for I’ve a responsibility to which I’m obligated.”
Bakhurji urged women to join and participate in the organization and expressed her belief that the council would become strong and effective with the growing support.
“There’s a lot of skepticism among members and non-members,” said a group of young Saudi engineers or would-be engineers who preferred to remain unnamed. “Be it women or men on the board, it isn’t what matters. We’re waiting for results; not just election results but action results!”
Nadia Bakhurji has joined her peers who were voted onto the boards of other professional organizations: Two Saudi women journalists, Nawal Al-Rashed and Nahed Bashatah, won seats on the board of the Saudi Journalists Association in 2004, and two businesswomen, Lama Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher, recently won places on the board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
