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Saudi Arabia: Let Women Vote, Run for Office

No Excuse for Exclusion From Upcoming Municipal Elections

March 31,2011 The government of Saudi Arabia cannot expect Saudi women to believe that a lack of preparation is behind the denial of their rights to political participation. This was a preposterous excuse in 2005, and even more so now. This crude sex discrimination is an insult to millions of Saudi women.
Nadya Khalife, Middle East women’s rights researcher

(Beirut) - The Saudi government's refusal to let women vote in municipal elections in September 2011 unlawfully deprives women of their rights to full and equal status under the law, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the election committee to allow women to vote and to run for seats on the municipal councils.
On March 28, 2011, ‘Abd al-Rahman Dahmash, president of the general committee for the election of municipal council members, said, "We are not prepared for the participation of women in the municipal elections now." He promised that women will be allowed to participate in the future.

Read more: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/31/saudi-arabia-let-women-vote-run-officeWatch Video