From: Array
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 15:48:26 +0300
Arab NewsDear All,
This is a translated article from al eqtisadiah newspaper published today, just as we are running in the first week of voters' registration for municipal elections (for men only). The article represents one of the methods women are using in the country to contest the ban.
Hatoon AL FASSI
hatoon@gmail.com
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20…
Hatoon- practical solutions, arab news
27 Nov, 2004
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
27/11/2004
Practical Solutions
Dr. Hatoon Ajwad Al-Fassi . Al-Eqtisadiah
While launching the municipal election campaign in Riyadh recently, Prince Mansour ibn Miteb, chairman of the general election committee, emphasized women's right to participate in elections. He clarified that the word "muwatin" used in the election bylaw covers female citizens.
However, the chief election officer pointed out that women would not be able to participate in elections this time due to technical reasons. I would like to present some solutions to help women participate in the polls.
As the law ensures women's right to vote and run in elections, some vague reasons must not be allowed to obstruct their participation, and maximum efforts must be taken to overcome them. Stopping participation of 50 percent of the population in elections citing time constraints is both weak and unreasonable in light of the announcement made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd that woman is a partner of man in social development. The authorities have presented three reasons for keeping women away from the elections. First, less than 10 percent of the women eligible to vote have ID cards. Second, there are many requirements to ensure women's participation, and they are expensive. Third, there is lack of qualified women to conduct the elections.
The main reason for the lower number of women holding IDs is that the government has not made it compulsory for all women, though it is required for security. But this is not a problem, authorities can allow these women to vote and contest elections. This will again encourage women to get ID cards if they want to take part in the democratic process. There is still time for women to register both as candidates and voters, especially for the last two phases of elections. Another solution is to establish ID card counters at voter registration centers in coordination with the Interior Ministry. Female voters may also be allowed to register using other forms of identification, such as passports, as most women already have them.
The ID cards are to prove the names, nationalities and ages of voters, and this can be done with the support of the Education Ministry register for secondary graduates and secondary-school students who graduated after 1421H. They could be allowed to register and vote for their candidates.
Another suggestion is that authorities stop women from running in elections but allow them to vote, on condition that all the 50 percent of the appointed members of the council be women.
The second reason - related to procedures and financing - is a bit exaggerated as the cost of women's participation would be nothing compared to the windfall from oil price hike this year and the freedom given to the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry to finance the election.
What is required is to set aside two or more centers at girls schools, charitable societies or universities to register women voters after checking their identities, set up a women's wing to supervise constituencies and appoint some female officers to ensure security. The voting process also can be arranged in the same way without much difficulty.
With regard to the third reason, I would like to point out that there are thousands of qualified women, including university teachers and graduates and holders of master's and doctoral degrees who can conduct elections. It seems that the election committee is not aware of the capabilities of women. Lack of women representatives in various organizing committees is to blame for this.
What I want to emphasize here is that participation of women in municipal elections is not a complicated issue. Even in an impoverished country like Afghanistan, which has been hit by internal and international conflicts for more than two decades, women participated in not municipal, but presidential elections. The problems of procedures or finance did not stand in the way of Afghan women's participation in elections.
We have great confidence in the Saudi leadership that it will make serious efforts to enhance women's participation, and we have seen this in many forums. I also hope that the election committee will look into the proposals and solutions to ensure women's participation from this election. We are so eager. We cannot wait for long.
Copyright:Arab News ? 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix and powered by Eima IT
href="http://www.arabnews.com/styles/stylez.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
eqtisadiah newspaper published today, just as we are running in the first
week of voters' registration for municipal elections (for men only). The article
represents one of the methods women are using in the country to contest the
ban.
href="http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20…"> dir=ltr> size=5>http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20… lang=AR-SA>
face="Times New Roman">Hatoon-
practical solutions, arab news
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>27 Nov, 2004
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
|
width=1>
Practical Solutions While launching the municipal election campaign in Riyadh However, the chief election officer pointed out that women would As the law ensures women's right to vote and run in elections, The main reason for the lower number of women holding IDs is that The ID cards are to prove the names, nationalities and ages of Another suggestion is that authorities stop women from running in The second reason - related to procedures and financing - is a What is required is to set aside two or more centers at girls With regard to the third reason, I would like to point out that What I want to emphasize here is that participation of women in We have great confidence in the Saudi leadership that it will |
width=1>
practical solutions, women's participation in saudi elections
From: Array
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 15:48:54 +0300
Arab NewsDear All,
This is a translated article from al eqtisadiah newspaper published today, just as we are running in the first week of voters' registration for municipal elections (for men only). The article represents one of the methods women are using in the country to contest the ban.
Hatoon AL FASSI
hatoon@gmail.com
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20…
Hatoon- practical solutions, arab news
27 Nov, 2004
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
27/11/2004
Practical Solutions
Dr. Hatoon Ajwad Al-Fassi . Al-Eqtisadiah
While launching the municipal election campaign in Riyadh recently, Prince Mansour ibn Miteb, chairman of the general election committee, emphasized women's right to participate in elections. He clarified that the word "muwatin" used in the election bylaw covers female citizens.
However, the chief election officer pointed out that women would not be able to participate in elections this time due to technical reasons. I would like to present some solutions to help women participate in the polls.
As the law ensures women's right to vote and run in elections, some vague reasons must not be allowed to obstruct their participation, and maximum efforts must be taken to overcome them. Stopping participation of 50 percent of the population in elections citing time constraints is both weak and unreasonable in light of the announcement made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd that woman is a partner of man in social development. The authorities have presented three reasons for keeping women away from the elections. First, less than 10 percent of the women eligible to vote have ID cards. Second, there are many requirements to ensure women's participation, and they are expensive. Third, there is lack of qualified women to conduct the elections.
The main reason for the lower number of women holding IDs is that the government has not made it compulsory for all women, though it is required for security. But this is not a problem, authorities can allow these women to vote and contest elections. This will again encourage women to get ID cards if they want to take part in the democratic process. There is still time for women to register both as candidates and voters, especially for the last two phases of elections. Another solution is to establish ID card counters at voter registration centers in coordination with the Interior Ministry. Female voters may also be allowed to register using other forms of identification, such as passports, as most women already have them.
The ID cards are to prove the names, nationalities and ages of voters, and this can be done with the support of the Education Ministry register for secondary graduates and secondary-school students who graduated after 1421H. They could be allowed to register and vote for their candidates.
Another suggestion is that authorities stop women from running in elections but allow them to vote, on condition that all the 50 percent of the appointed members of the council be women.
The second reason - related to procedures and financing - is a bit exaggerated as the cost of women's participation would be nothing compared to the windfall from oil price hike this year and the freedom given to the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry to finance the election.
What is required is to set aside two or more centers at girls schools, charitable societies or universities to register women voters after checking their identities, set up a women's wing to supervise constituencies and appoint some female officers to ensure security. The voting process also can be arranged in the same way without much difficulty.
With regard to the third reason, I would like to point out that there are thousands of qualified women, including university teachers and graduates and holders of master's and doctoral degrees who can conduct elections. It seems that the election committee is not aware of the capabilities of women. Lack of women representatives in various organizing committees is to blame for this.
What I want to emphasize here is that participation of women in municipal elections is not a complicated issue. Even in an impoverished country like Afghanistan, which has been hit by internal and international conflicts for more than two decades, women participated in not municipal, but presidential elections. The problems of procedures or finance did not stand in the way of Afghan women's participation in elections.
We have great confidence in the Saudi leadership that it will make serious efforts to enhance women's participation, and we have seen this in many forums. I also hope that the election committee will look into the proposals and solutions to ensure women's participation from this election. We are so eager. We cannot wait for long.
Copyright:Arab News ? 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix and powered by Eima IT
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">href="http://www.arabnews.com/styles/stylez.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
eqtisadiah newspaper published today, just as we are running in the first
week of voters' registration for municipal elections (for men only). The article
represents one of the methods women are using in the country to contest the
ban.
href="http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20…"> dir=ltr> size=5>http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=55139&d=27&m=11&y=20… lang=AR-SA>
face="Times New Roman">Hatoon-
practical solutions, arab news
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>27 Nov, 2004
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=5>
width=203 border=0>
The Middle East's
Leading English Language
Daily
class=date1>27/11/2004
Practical Solutions
class=source>Dr. Hatoon Ajwad Al-Fassi . Al-Eqtisadiah
While launching the municipal election campaign in Riyadh
recently, Prince Mansour ibn Miteb, chairman of the general election
committee, emphasized women's right to participate in elections. He
clarified that the word "muwatin" used in the election bylaw covers
female citizens.
However, the chief election officer pointed out that women would
not be able to participate in elections this time due to technical
reasons. I would like to present some solutions to help women
participate in the polls.
As the law ensures women's right to vote and run in elections,
some vague reasons must not be allowed to obstruct their
participation, and maximum efforts must be taken to overcome them.
Stopping participation of 50 percent of the population in elections
citing time constraints is both weak and unreasonable in light of
the announcement made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd
that woman is a partner of man in social development. The
authorities have presented three reasons for keeping women away from
the elections. First, less than 10 percent of the women eligible to
vote have ID cards. Second, there are many requirements to ensure
women's participation, and they are expensive. Third, there is lack
of qualified women to conduct the elections.
The main reason for the lower number of women holding IDs is that
the government has not made it compulsory for all women, though it
is required for security. But this is not a problem, authorities can
allow these women to vote and contest elections. This will again
encourage women to get ID cards if they want to take part in the
democratic process. There is still time for women to register both
as candidates and voters, especially for the last two phases of
elections. Another solution is to establish ID card counters at
voter registration centers in coordination with the Interior
Ministry. Female voters may also be allowed to register using other
forms of identification, such as passports, as most women already
have them.
The ID cards are to prove the names, nationalities and ages of
voters, and this can be done with the support of the Education
Ministry register for secondary graduates and secondary-school
students who graduated after 1421H. They could be allowed to
register and vote for their candidates.
Another suggestion is that authorities stop women from running in
elections but allow them to vote, on condition that all the 50
percent of the appointed members of the council be women.
The second reason - related to procedures and financing - is a
bit exaggerated as the cost of women's participation would be
nothing compared to the windfall from oil price hike this year and
the freedom given to the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry to
finance the election.
What is required is to set aside two or more centers at girls
schools, charitable societies or universities to register women
voters after checking their identities, set up a women's wing to
supervise constituencies and appoint some female officers to ensure
security. The voting process also can be arranged in the same way
without much difficulty.
With regard to the third reason, I would like to point out that
there are thousands of qualified women, including university
teachers and graduates and holders of master's and doctoral degrees
who can conduct elections. It seems that the election committee is
not aware of the capabilities of women. Lack of women
representatives in various organizing committees is to blame for
this.
What I want to emphasize here is that participation of women in
municipal elections is not a complicated issue. Even in an
impoverished country like Afghanistan, which has been hit by
internal and international conflicts for more than two decades,
women participated in not municipal, but presidential elections. The
problems of procedures or finance did not stand in the way of Afghan
women's participation in elections.
We have great confidence in the Saudi leadership that it will
make serious efforts to enhance women's participation, and we have
seen this in many forums. I also hope that the election committee
will look into the proposals and solutions to ensure women's
participation from this election. We are so eager. We cannot wait
for long.
rights reserved. Site designed by: href="http://www.arabix.com/" target=_blank>arabix class=source> and powered by href="http://www.eimaits.co.uk/" target=_blank>Eima
IT