WOMEN CANDIDATES TRY AGAIN IN EASTERN PROVINCE CHAMBER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAHRAN 000275

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP JOSHUA HARRIS AND JEREMY BERNDT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON SA
SUBJECT: WOMEN CANDIDATES TRY AGAIN IN EASTERN PROVINCE CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE ELECTIONS

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CLASSIFIED BY: Joseph Kenny, Dhahran Consul General, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
SUMMARY

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1. (U) For the second time in the history of the Eastern
Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI),the
Government (SAG) will allow women to run for membership on the
board of the EPCCI. Their previous attempt to obtain a seat on
the board in 2005 was unsuccessful. This time around, women are
better organized and strategizing for victory. The ballot will
include three female candidates (a fourth candidate recently
withdrew),who are optimistic they will be able to provide a
strong showing. More doubtful, even among women, are their
prospects for victory. END SUMMARY.



Elections

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2. (U) On November 8, PolOff met with Abdul Rahman F. al-Homiyn,
Assistant Secretary General for Committees Affairs at the
Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI) and
Saeed al-Abdullah, Public Relations Department Manager. The
discussion focused on EPCCI structure and organization, as well
as the upcoming elections of the new EPCCI Board. Figuring
prominently in the discussion of the upcoming elections was the
role of women candidates. This is only the second election in
which the SAG will allow women to place their name on the
ballot. Their last attempt to obtain a seat, in 2005, was
unsuccessful.




3. (U) Candidate submissions for the upcoming EPCCI elections
closed in early November. Thirty-eight candidates are in the
running, 10 so-called "industrialists" and 28 "merchants." The
women participating in the election fall under the "merchants"
category, said al-Homiyn. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry
(MOCI) oversees the process, without interference, according to
al-Homiyn. There are approximately 40,000 registered, paying
members of the EPCCI, which accepts members on five different
tiers, ranging from 400SR (approximately $100/yr) to 10,000SR
($2600/yr) for an annual membership. There are an estimated
1,200 female members. The EPCCI holds elections for 12 of its
18 board members every four years; the remaining six members are
selected and appointed by the MOCI during the same period.
There were six polling stations available for voting during the
previous election. At that time, there were only an estimated
22,000 members in the EPCCI, said al-Homiyn. (Comment: The
near doubling in EPCCI membership is evidence of the economic
boom and the growth of business the EP has experienced over the
past several years. End Comment.) Al-Homiyn was unaware of how
many polling stations will be available this year. PolOff will
visit election sites, to the extent possible, once their
locations are available.





Strategizing

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4. (C) On November 8, PolOff met with Samia al-Edrisi (protect),
a prominent businesswoman and CEO of an Eastern Province company
(Eastern Forum Co. Ltd. for Advancement and Development,
currently investing in real estate),in her home. She was a
candidate during the 2005 EPCCI elections and said that the 2005
elections included women on the ballot very late in the game.
As such, she emphasized, there was insufficient time to prepare
and develop an election strategy. Al-Edrisi said she will not
run for a seat on the EPCCI Board this year. However, she and
her associates are in the process of determining which of the
current female candidates to endorse. Once this is decided, her
company will put its full weight and resources behind the female
candidate, to include financial backing, a call center, and
media exposure. Al-Edrisi, despite her commitment, is not
confident that voters will elect a female candidate. Her
strategy, however, is to generate enough votes for a single
female candidate, thereby demonstrating the popular desire to

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have a female representative on the board. In addition, she
hopes that a strong showing will pressure the appointment of a
woman to one of the board's six appointed seats.




5. (C) Al-Edrisi is expecting that a strong showing in the
election will force the hand of the Minister of Commerce and
Industry to appoint a female to the board. Al-Edrisi's motives
go beyond the current election however. She is calculating that
a strong showing of female candidates, including a possible
victory with the appointment of a female to the board, could
yield political dividends further down the road. If and when
Municipal Council elections allow women to participate,
al-Edrisi expects to use the political capital from her EPCCI
experience to run as a Municipal Council candidate.




6. (C) Also, on November 8, PDOff attended an event hosted by
Haifa Ahmed al-Romaih, EPCCI Business Women Committee Vice
Chairman, for the women running in the EPCCI elections. A
member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Lama
Suleiman, was scheduled to deliver remarks. However, she was
unable to attend. Many of the women present at the event
recognized the importance of public support. They are
strategizing how best to secure endorsements from companies.
They said that they are not concerned that the "women's vote" is
split by four women and they will support all of the women
contestants. The mantra repeated among them was "We want
change." (Comment: The women are campaign savvy, and they are
trying to use technology and the media to show that they have
the confidence that they can win. Additionally, it was evident
that most of them view their running for the elections as a
women's rights issue, as well as a way to confront the old boy's
network. End Comment.) PDOff also met with Hana al-Zuheir
(protect),former head of the Women's Chamber of Commerce and
current head of the Prince Sultan Fund, on November 9 to discuss
the upcoming elections.





And The Candidates Are . . .

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7. (C) The women candidates are:

o Souad al-Zaidi: grew up in Aramco. Not viewed as strong in
business, but very savvy.

o Fawzia al-Kari: began her career in the field of education,
now works in the construction business, which is very rare for a
Saudi woman. Viewed as strong in business, but not as savvy as
Suad al-Zaydi. Fawzia entered the race, she said, because she
saw that no other women were running and thus was shocked.

o Dina al-Faris: regarded as young and ambitious. At age 29,
she holds a B.A. in International Business Management and an
LLM. She now works as Assistant to the President for Al-Faris
Group.

o Aqila Madkhali: relative unknown, comes from the education
field. On November 16, Samia al-Edrisi reported that Aqila
withdrew her candidacy. Samia commented that Aqila, a
conservative Muslim with little business experience, withdrew as
a result of feeling overwhelmed by the process of elections.



These women are working closely with the women who ran in the
2005 EPCCI elections, as well as with female members of the
Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hoping to learn from
their experience. The prevailing view is that in 2005, there
was a lot of talk about supporting the women running, but when
the rubber hit the road, they received absolutely no support.
According to Hana al-Zuheir, who was an election observer in
2005, the vast majority of women cast their ballots for men.





Composition of the EPCCI Board and Candidates


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8. (U) Changes to the regulations for this year's elections,
which women view as working in their favor, include:

o The Minister of Commerce and Industry will appoint the
Secretary General for the Kingdom-wide Chamber of Commerce
(rather than elect).

o There will be no caucuses/parties/blocs allowed.

o Each voter will vote for one person only, instead of a set
of candidates.



Comment

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9. (C) The inclusion of women in the 2009 EPCCI elections is
significant because it may eventually pave the way for women to
run for other offices. These women believe that it is unlikely
they could win in the EPCCI elections, but it is not about
winning for them. They view their participation in the
elections, no matter the outcome, as progress. It was only in
2005 that the EPCCI elections were opened to women candidates.
It is believed that some sectors of government, anticipating the
strong opposition to women's political participation from
religious conservatives, want to introduce the notion of
elections, as well as women's participation in them, gradually.
It is anticipated that municipal elections will be next, though
the date remains unclear. Municipal elections were scheduled
for November 2009 but are now postponed for two years. The
status quo may not be disturbed by women's participation in the
EPCCI elections. However, their participation in the EPCCI
elections could open the door ever so slightly to greater female
participation in business and government organizations. End
Comment.
CG: JKENNY