A voice of hope

There’s not much that the world knows first-hand about Saudi women — and, of course, the news that comes from the region, especially concerning women, is not encouraging or hopeful. However, coming face-to-face with Dr Thuraya Al Arrayed, poet, writer and one of the few women members of the 150-strong Shura Council of the kingdom, certainly breaks the stereotypical image. She’s dignified, well-informed, reasonable, articulate, fearless and much more.

Naturally, the first thought that comes to mind is what made her get into the political space in her country? “I developed a keen interest in politics quite early in life and there were several factors that led to it,” she says. Born in Manama into an educated family, she grew up in a post-World War II milieu in which everyone was “interested in political developments, analyses and discussions”. She goes on, “The Arab countries as well as Asian and African nations were being formed then. Independence from Western colonisation, the establishment of nation states, and nationalisation of resources was the order of the time. Indeed, political developments were everyday affairs since I was in primary school and new events were being added to the ones already in our textbooks.”

Those initial years laid the foundations for a lifetime of keen engagement with regional politics as well as social and developmental concerns. In fact, her appointment to the Shura Council has put her in a unique position to make a real difference to the lives of the people, something she has been striving to do from the beginning. “The Shura is an integral principle in the tradition of Islamic governance and ruling system, where decision-making is enriched by recommendations from the elected councillors, carefully selected to render dependable advice,” she explains. It was the late King Abdulaziz, the founder of the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who established the three-tier system of governance — the King, Council of Ministers, and the Shura Council — that is being followed in the kingdom today.

The Shura Council has access to the annual reports prepared by all government agencies. It assigns them to specific committees that study, discuss and then vote on them before coming up with detailed recommendations for the Royal Court. Its members can propose new rules apart from amendments to the existing rules. There is also a provision for citizens to send in their requests and petitions to the Council to be discussed and voted on. “The Shura Council started off with 30 members and today the numbers have gone up to 150. Each member serves for a four-year term and can go on for three terms or 12 years. Twenty per cent of the council members have to be women and the current Shura Council has 30, each from a different discipline. Being appointed to the Shura is definitely not just an honorary reward, it is a huge responsibility,” she says.

While one would imagine that female council members would automatically deal with gender issues, their role is not restricted to these. “All subjects are open to us,” elaborates Dr Al Arrayed, “we are not restricted to any particular area. We study all reports and have been assigned as members to all committees.” For instance, over the past few years, she has been part of the committees looking after foreign affairs, security affairs and social affairs. That, however, does not mean that she has overlooked the important task of securing the position of women in her country. Her presence on the Shura has paved the way for several key changes. “Every time a report has to be scrutinised, the members, both men and women, see where the interests of women can be protected and enhanced. Many important, progressive decisions have been adopted by the royal court and the various ministries on our recommendation. We have been working to create employment opportunities for women, float health programmes that cater to their particular needs, improve procedures in courts dealing with women entangled in family disputes (like divorce or inheritance issues). We have been trying to overcome legal and administrative hurdles ,” she says.

And yet, several challenges remain. She candidly points out, “The major task before us right now is to convince a large segment of the population that is still hesitant to trust women to play a major role in a developing society. In order for this to happen, I firmly believe that every woman who gets a chance to make a difference must remember that her personal achievements will go a long way in changing the future for other women.”

While there is a general optimism about the status of women in Saudi Arabia, this feeling is not extended to the prevailing climate of political unrest and violence ongoing in the region.

She says, “We are fighting on all fronts: battling against the attempts on our security and sovereignty. We are fighting against extremism, terrorism and organised intents to defragment countries. I am very disheartened with the recent developments in our region and the fact that things have been deteriorating for the last two to three decades. I hope and pray that the bloody chaos comes to an end and that we go back to an atmosphere of peace and building civilisations rather than allowing the destruction of our heritage.”

Aditi Bhaduri , Women’s Feature Service

COMMENT NOW