JOIN USThe political rights granted to the women of Saudi Arabia by King Abdullah earlier this week are too little and too late. The decision to allow women to contest local body elections and vote in those elections is being presented as a sign of the progress of the women of the kingdom towards achievement of their legitimate rights. Women will also be allowed some seats in the Majlis Al-Shura, which is a consultative forum. Saudi Arabia is among the world’s most repressive countries where even men do not enjoy minimum political rights. The right of men who vote in the elections is limited to lower level bodies and they do not have any real powers. The highest body, the Majlis, is a nominated forum. Though it has been granted some powers recently, it remains basically a captive body. When even men do not have their legitimate rights, it is difficult to see how women can have them in a society where oppression of and discrimination against them have been sanctioned and traditionally practised.
The right now granted to women will have to wait till 2015 to be made use of. The next local body elections are due after four years only. There is no certainty whether they will be held then. The elections which are now being held were actually due in 2008 but were put of at the pleasure of the king. Having a right is one thing, but exercising it is a different matter. Women may not be able to vote or contest elections for many reasons, as in the case of driving. They can legally secure a driving licence now but are unable to drive. Those women who have shown the courage to drive have been harassed and even persecuted.
Therefore it cannot be said that the significance of the rights granted to women goes beyond the symbolic. It may be true that the decision was perhaps prompted by the changes that were brought about in other authoritarian Arab societies through popular uprisings. There may also have been some internal pressure. But the king and the supporting orthodox clergy were only making a token gesture without substantive intent. No political right can flourish without social rights. Since democracy is anathema in the kingdom neither men nor women can hope to enjoy their rights any time soon there.