MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2004
No voting right to Saudi women
PTI
DUBAI: Even as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states cautiously try to introduce democratic reforms in their countries in the wake of proposed elections in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has firmly ruled out giving voting rights to women in the kingdom.
Interior Minister Prince Naif on Sunday ruled out the prospects of women's participation in the upcoming municipal elections.
"I don't think it's possible," he told reporters in Kuwait when asked whether Saudi women could take part in the first-ever nationwide civic elections, Arab News said.
Women in Saudi Arabia, a member of the GCC along with Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman, are banned from contesting in elections.
Naif's statement, the first by a top official, puts an end to speculation on women's participation in the elections, which will start on February 10 and continue till April 21.
The elections will be conducted in three phases in order to choose half the members of the 178 municipal councils in the Kingdom's 13 regions.
The General Committee for Municipal Elections last month said women would not be allowed to contest the elections.
Responding to the intentions of some women to run for office, an official source said they had misunderstood the law which clearly stated that only "muwatin" (male citizens) are allowed to participate."
The law did not use the word "muwatina" (female citizens), thus excluding women from taking part in elections.
Out of the six GCC states, only Qatar gives women a somewhat equal status to men in suffrage.
In 1999, the country's first elections were held in which women were allowed to vote and stand for office.
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