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2011 Saudi Arabian municipal elections: Difference between revisions

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==Electoral process==
Voter registration took place from 23 April to 19 May<ref name="Star_KSA_municip_2011" /><ref name="alawsat_details" /><ref name="TheNational_KSA_municip_2011">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | language =| title=Women remain barred from voting as Saudi Arabia announces elections | date=2011-03-23 | publisher=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)]]/[[Associated Press|AP]]/[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] | url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/women-remain-barred-from-voting-as-saudi-arabia-announces-elections |accessdate=2011-03-22 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xNr7T4Xv |archivedate=2011-03-22 |deadurl=no }}</ref><ref>Early reports stated 23 April as the election date.</ref><ref name="GulfNews_women2325April" /> or 28 July.<ref name="ThReut_26April_elec" /> Candidate registration took place from 28 May to 2 June.<ref name="alawsat_details" />
 
The period of electoral campaigning was to be decided after candidate registration had closed.<ref name="alawsat_details" /> The municipal councils were to be created in October, following the election, for a term of 6 years.<ref name="alawsat_details" />
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==Women's participation==
{{see also|Women's rights in Saudi Arabia|Women's suffrage}}
In late March, the [[Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia|Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs]] stated that women would not vote in the 2011 elections "because of the kingdom's social customs".<ref name="Star_KSA_municip_2011" /> [[King Saud University]] history lecturer and human rights activist [[Hatoon al-Fassi]] involved in campaigning for women's participation in elections stated that women had decided to create their own municipal councils in parallel to the men-only elections.<ref name="arabiya_womenoutraged">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | language =| title=In aim to start casting their votes Saudi women aim to create their own municipal council | date=March 2011-03 | publisher=[[Al Arabiya]] | url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/01/143829.html |accessdate=2011-04-02 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xeNGkicc |archivedate=2011-04-02 |deadurl=no }}</ref> Al-Fassi stated that women creating their own municipal councils or participating in "real elections" were both legal under Saudi law and electoral commission head al-Dahmash agreed with her.<ref name="arabiya_womenoutraged" />
 
Saudi Arabian women organised through the "Baladi" (''My Country'') and Saudi Women's Revolution<ref name="saudi_women_revolution" /> to campaign for women's participation in the election.<ref name="bloom_women">{{cite news | first=Donna | last=Abu-Nasr | pages= | language =| title=Saudi Women Inspired by Fall of Mubarak Step Up Equality Demand | date=2011-03-28 | publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]] | url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-28/saudi-women-inspired-by-revolt-against-mubarak-go-online-to-seek-equality.html |accessdate=2011-04-02 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xeO2w5aG |archivedate=2011-04-02 |deadurl=no }}</ref> From 23–25 April, women in Jeddah,<ref name="AJE_women2325April" /> Riyadh and [[Dammam]] tried to register as electors. The ''[[Gulf News]]'' said that "strong public opinion ... supporting women's participation in the election process" followed local newspapers' publication of photos of women waiting in queues to register for the election. Fawzia Al Hani, chair of the "Baladi" ''Facebook'' campaign, said that Saudi Arabian law states that women have the right to vote and to stand as candidates.<ref name="GulfNews_women2325April" /><ref name="eurasia_review">{{cite news | first=Rob L. | last=Wagner | pages= | language =| title=Saudi Arabia’s Municipal Elections: Tough Lessons Learned from Islamic Conservatives | date=2011-09-09 | publisher=[[Eurasia Review]] | url=http://www.eurasiareview.com/09092011-saudi-arabia%E2%80%99s-municipal-elections-tough-lessons-learned-from-islamic-conservatives-analysis/ |accessdate=2011-09-25 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xeO2w5aG |archivedate=2011-04-02 |deadurl=no }}</ref>
 
One of the women whose registration had been rejected, [[Samar Badawi]], filed a lawsuit in the [[Legal system of Saudi Arabia#Court_structureCourt structure|Grievances Board]], a non-[[Sharia]] court,<ref name="Metz_KSA_legal_system" /> against the [[Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia|Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs]], claiming that there was no law banning women as voters or candidates and that the refusal was illegal. She cited Articles 3 and 24 of the [[Arab Charter on Human Rights]], which refer to general and election-specific anti-discrimination, respectively. Badawi requested the Grievances Board to suspend the electoral procedures pending the Board's decision and to order the electoral authorities to register her as a voter and as eligible to be a candidate. On 27 April 2011, the Grievances Board accepted to hear her case at a later date.<ref name="sgazette_badawi_elections" /> The Board's final decision was that Badawi's case was "premature".<ref name="sgazette_badawi_elections_decision" /> According to the [[United States Department of State]], Badawi was the first person to file a lawsuit for women's suffrage in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="USStateDept_award" />
 
Badawi also applied to the Municipal Elections Appeal Committee to reverse the refusal of her registration. Her application was refused on the grounds that appeals against registration refusals must take place within three days of the refusal.<ref name="sgazette_badawi_elections_decision" />
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==Results==
The elections covered 1056 seats in the councils of 285<ref name="ArabNews_285councils" /><ref name="oman_observer_electionday">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | language =| title= Saudis vote in municipal elections, results on Sunday| date=2011-09-30| publisher=[[Oman Observer]]/[[Agence France Presse|AFP]] | url=http://main.omanobserver.om/node/66706 |accessdate=2011-12-14 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/63xUk7Xwe |archivedate=2011-12-14 |deadurl=no }}</ref><ref name="ArabNews_285councils" /> municipalities around Saudi Arabia.
 
==References==
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<ref name="sgazette_badawi_elections_decision">{{cite news | first= | last= | pages= | language =| title=Woman's vote claim rejected | date=2011-05-29 | publisher=[[Saudi Gazette]] | url= http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20110529101838|accessdate=2012-03-09 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/662mMEJ4U |archivedate=2012-03-09 |deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
<ref name="Metz_KSA_legal_system">{{cite web| last =Metz | first =Helen Chaplin | authorlink =| coauthors =| title =The Legal System | work =Saudi Arabia: A Country Study| dateyear = 1992 | publisher =[[United States Library of Congress]] | url = http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/51.htm |format =| doi =| accessdate =2012-02-24 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |deadurl=no }}</ref>
 
<ref name="USStateDept_award">{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =2012 International Women of Courage Award Winners| work =| publisher =[[United States Department of State|US Dept of State]] | date =2012-02-05| url =http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/programs/iwoc/2012/bio/index.htm |format =| doi =| accessdate =2012-02-09 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/662jRhJHC|archivedate=2012-02-09 |deadurl=no }}</ref>
}}
 
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* [[List of cities and towns in Saudi Arabia]]
* [[Women's suffrage]]
 
 
{{Saudi Arabian elections}}
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