Saudi diplomat sees vote by women

DAVOS, Switzerland - A top Saudi diplomat and member of the royal family pre- dicted that women will be allowed to vote in future elec- tions, giving women in the strictly segregated Islamic nation a political voice for the first time.

The Saudi government has responded to international pressure to democratize the Middle East by promising municipal elections across the nation, with the first stage on Feb. 10 in the capital, Riyadh. The elections, in which only men can participate, will be the first since the 1960s, when local polls were held in a few cities.

Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the country’s former intelligence chief and current ambassador to Britain, said late Friday that the United States, France, Switzerland and many other countries waited many years after giving men the right to vote before extending that privilege to women.

“Since this is our first election, probably we will be better and have women vote the next time around,” he said after a dinner on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Abdulrahman Al-Tuwaijri, secretary-general of Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Economic Council, said the law adopted for the municipal elections “doesn’t make any distinction between the voter, between men and women.”

“It just says a voter in a very neutral sense,” he said.

Mr. Al-Tuwaijri said he thinks the voting right for women “is coming” because the organizers of the municipal elections said the only obstacle to female participation was “organizing the places, how they vote.”

“It’s not because the law doesn’t allow,” he said.

“I think [in] the next election, women will be there, so it’s a big step, yes,” Mr. Al-Tuwaijri said.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with an unelected consultative council that acts like a parliament. Political parties are banned, and press freedom is limited.

But the elections for the municipal councils will give Saudi men the chance to participate — if only in a limited manner — in decision making.

The Saudi government announced in October that women could not compete or vote in the elections, dashing the hopes of progressive Saudis, including some women who had planned to run for office.

Some women saw the move as acquiescing to conservative fears that the kingdom is moving too fast on reforms and considered it yet another indignity in a country where they need their husbands’ permission to study, travel or work.

About 150,000 men have registered to vote on Feb. 10. Polling in the eastern and southwestern regions will start March 3. Voters in northern parts of the country will cast ballots April 21.

Prince Turki did not indicate whether women might vote in the later municipal elections or in subsequent elections, possibly at the regional and national level.

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