Women demand voting rights

JEDDAH: A group of women has launched a website campaigning for the participation of women in municipal elections.

The initiative, called “Baladi,” has so far attracted over 2,000 members.

Organizers say the campaign is independently run by women and has supporters from different parts of the Kingdom.

They added that they want women to be able to participate in the running of municipal services due to the role they play in society in general.

The campaign cites the important roles higher authorities are assigning women and also the achievements of Saudi women over the years. According to organizers, women have already taken up leading positions and thus should be able to participate in municipal elections.

Women have now surpassed the traditional roles that they play, are able to lead in society and their achievements need to be protected, says the campaign.

It adds that women should have the same rights that men enjoy based on international conventions that the Kingdom has signed.

These rights include participation in the municipal elections, as it would improve women’s involvement in the decision-making process and combat the negative stereotypes about Saudi women being inactive and marginalized, the campaign says.

A campaign was previously launched to push for the participation of women in the upcoming municipal elections, although it was unable to meet its goal.

Different groups have called for the boycott of the elections including the Saudi Liberals group, whose motto is “No participation for women, no for participation in the municipal elections!”

The group also said there were no convincing reasons behind the decision to ban women from participating in the elections and that this was discrimination and barred women from their right to vote, which is legal in Islam.

The National Society for Human Rights has already refused to supervise the elections in protest.

arabnews