PROSPECTS FOR WOMEN AND DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN SAUDI

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000294 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO NEA/ARP JOSH HARRIS; DRL/NEASCA MATT HICKEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN SA SUBJECT: PROSPECTS FOR WOMEN AND DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN SAUDI ARABIA REF: A. 08 SECSTATE 129841 ¶B. 02 SECSTATE 007849 Classified By: CDA David Rundell for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) KEY POINTS & COMMENT: -- Ref A requested post's views on prospects for women's participation in 2009 Saudi municipal elections and the 2009 Majlis Al-Shoura session. -- The municipal elections may take place in ten months (December); women as yet have not been enfranchised (septel). -- The delay is due to a re-drafting of the council charter, which requires Majlis Al-Shoura and Council of Ministers approval before new elections can be held. -- The additional time could allow authorities to address bureaucratic issues they claim kept women from participating in 2005 elections. -- Vice-Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Miteib told CDA he didn't know if women would be able to vote, explaining that this was not the most important issue facing the councils. -- Women candidates were allowed to run in 2008 Chamber of Commerce (quasi-governmental) elections. Female candidates received few votes and none were elected. -- The king is not expected to give the female advisors in the Majlis Al-Shoura voting rights, though he may increase their numbers. -- Embassy Public Affairs Section has sent a Speaker Program request and is working with MEPI to help train future female candidates in the workings of municipal elections. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Prince Miteib confirmed to CDA that the reason for the delay is to draft and approve a new council charter, with no clear indication that women will be allowed to run and/or vote in the future elections. He noted that the issue of women is not the most important; the "larger issues" involve the role of the councils and their relationship to the members and city managers appointed by the king. That said, Miteib did not rule out female participation, which could grant some future success if others are working on the so-called logistical and administrative barriers. ¶3. (C) Embassy plans to offer training to help female candidates develop political skills, such as leadership, campaign management, and public speaking, particularly as these subjects are often ignored in women's education in Saudi Arabia. Post's public diplomacy programs would train women locally as well as bring women to the U.S. on exchanges. Training would help women promote themselves as candidates on a more equal footing with male competitors if and when women are permitted to run. END KEY POINTS & COMMENT. -------------- WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE: A MIRAGE? -------------- ¶4. (C) Prospects for women's suffrage in the municipal elections that may occur in December are unclear. Prince Miteib told CDA that the elections will be delayed for 10 months, to give the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs time to draft a new council charter, then approve it with the Council of Ministers and Majlis Al-Shoura. Postponement would be a step backwards in the short term, but could benefit women in the end by allowing the Saudi authorities time to review the so-called administrative and logistical deterrents that kept women from voting in 2005. If the elections proceed on schedule this year (Spring),reported obstacles will likely limit the ability of women to vote, just as they did in 2005. ¶5. (C) The law governing the 2005 municipal elections ostensibly gave women the right to vote, stating that: "Every citizen has the right to vote if they are over 21 years old, not a military man and have been residing in the constituency for a year before the day of the ballot." There is no Saudi law or fatwa that explicitly bars women from voting, nor on the other hand one that explicitly protects it. While in a shari'a court, for example, the testimony of one man equals that of two women, there is no specific legal status for women regarding suffrage. ¶6. (C) The election law governing voter eligibility was gender neutral. Contacts report that the barring of women from voting was rooted in cultural bias. That bias manifested itself in a lack of action that did not allow women to overcome logistical and administrative obstacles. When women arrived at the polls, local authorities denied access because many women did not have national ID cards to prove their identities. In addition, whether by accident or design, there was no accommodation for separate gender voting booths, and if there was, no females to staff them. In addition, many Embassy contacts reported that some Saudis simply did not allow female members of their households to go to the polls. The result was that women were effectively barred from voting. ¶7. (C) The national ID card proves Saudi citizenship, and hence must be used as identification in municipal elections. The national ID was issued for women in 2001 (ref B); however, it was not until 2006 that women could obtain the ID without permission of their male guardian, or mahram. While official statistics are unavailable, contacts report that fewer women have national IDs than those that do not. As these IDs are prerequisite to establish voter eligibility for municipal elections, the need to increase the number of women holding such IDs is important to remove administrative barriers. More involvement of women in the planning stages would address logistical considerations, such as a lack of voting booths designated for women. -------------- FEMALE CANDIDATES FOR OTHER ELECTED OFFICES -------------- ¶8. (C) Female candidates have had more success than female voters, although "success" is relative. In 2008 women could run for seats on the boards of directors of the Riyadh and Jeddah Chambers of Commerce. No females won, but there was no significant public opposition to their candidacies. In the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce election in 2005, seventeen women ran in the election, and two women won. (Note: The Chambers of Commerce in Saudi Arabia are quasi-governmental; while they receive funding from the Ministry of Commerce, they elect their own board members. However, female candidates would have been barred if the government objected. End note.) ¶9. (C) Dr. Amal Badraldeen, a female candidate for the Riyadh Chamber (and daughter of the Chamber's president) told Emboff that female candidates are disadvantaged because the way to win a Saudi election is by building support through personal relationships with current members of a Chamber of Commerce or Municipal Council. The strict gender segregation prevailing in Saudi Arabia prevents female candidates from developing contacts among male voters that could lead to electoral support. Other female contacts have opined that allowing women to vote would not necessarily result in female candidate victories, since often the strongest opponents are conservative women, who disapprove of female candidates or persuaded by their male relatives do not vote for women candidates. -------------- MAJLIS AL-SHOURA -------------- ¶10. (C) Embassy has seen no evidence that the status of women in the Majlis Al-Shoura will change. The Shoura will begin a new session in April 2009, at which time the king, following precedent, is expected to replace at least 50% of its members. There are currently six female advisors to the Majlis. Their advisory role is limited to women's issues and they have no voting rights. Post has been unable to confirm whether this number will grow, or whether the female members will have increased participation rights. MUENCH