Empowering Saudi women

Saudi Arabia has accomplished a milestone by allowing women to register to vote in municipal elections. Say whatever you wish to about the minimal impact female voters will have on the makeup of the local councils, the move is a historic step in allowing greater participation of women in the Saudi society.
The right for Saudi women to vote in local elections is not about effecting change in our country, or even furthering the cause of democracy, as critics of the Kingdom so desperately want for us. We are not so naïve as to believe that the makeup of municipal councils will change anytime soon. It will be male-dominated for years to come. And we are not so naïve as to believe that council members will suddenly become responsive to the needs of their female constituents by allocating more public money for parks and cleaner streets, especially in Jeddah.
And it’s not about women helping in the implementation of democracy in Saudi Arabia. We already have that with the 150-member Shoura Council, which also has about 30 female members. And, of course, the municipal councils demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s commitment to a form of democracy, although it’s not quite what critics envision. Do the Shoura Council and the municipal councils do enough to represent the Saudi people, especially women, and to protect the quality of life for expatriate workers? No, but the principles of Islam are in place to support a form of democracy.
The real issue for Saudi women obtaining voting rights is opportunity, access and choice. Like many Saudi men who follow local politics, Saudi women are skeptical of the advantages of voting. It’s more of a matter of having the choice to vote.
I, for one, confess that I have little confidence in voting in the municipal elections. Local councils are not mature enough to really be effective. There is little room for debating local issues or allowing the public a voice in councils’ decision-making processes. Any woman elected to the council will be no more than window-dressing. But I want to have a choice. I want to choose who should represent me in Jeddah. And I want the opportunity to put pressure, either in the voting booth or at public meetings, to demand the council respond to my needs as a citizen.
It’s unlikely that my voice as a voter will have much of an impact, but it sets the stage for the next generation of Saudi women who will have an effect on the future of the country. And if I were to register to vote and to cast my ballot for local candidates, it would be for the young girls today who will be strong, educated women tomorrow.
It’s important not to underestimate what it means for Saudi women to have choices. As in the right to vote, women also want the right to drive a car. It’s not because the driving ban oppresses us but instead we should have the right to choose whether we want to drive and not. Many professional women I know have drivers’ licenses from other countries, and even own cars in other countries. I drive in England and the United States. But it would mean much more to us that our country would demonstrate the same confidence in us as foreigners do.
From a personal standpoint, I have no interest in driving in Saudi Arabia because there is no guarantee of protection for women. But I want to make that decision on my own.
There’s a mistaken assumption that Saudi women thirst for equal rights as women enjoy in the West. It’s safe to say that the conduct of western nations over the past decades in the name of democracy has disabused many of us from such fantasies. It’s more important to us that we are given the rights we deserve according to Islam and its adherence to democracy as defined by our religion. For that, we would be quite satisfied.