KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Sunday a congratulatory cable to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on the success of the municipal elections. In the cable, His Highness the Amir praised Saudi women's participation as candidates and voters in this elections, which embodied Saudi women's effective role in the Kingdom's development.

His Highness the Amir also prayed to Allah Almighty to bless King Salman with long-lasting health and wellness, and the Kingdom and Saudi people with further development and prosperity. His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to the Saudi King.

In the meantime, Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union President and Speaker of Kuwait's National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanem hailed the notable performance of Saudi women in their first participation, as candidates and voters, in the Kingdom's third municipal elections.

"The impressive results attained by the Saudi women were a source of joy for us and for all of the analysts who relied on these elections as a historic opportunity for the Saudi women to prove their selves, speak out, and contribute to the development of their country alongside the Saudi men," Al-Ghanem said in cable he sent to Chairman of Saudi Shura Council Dr Abdullah Al-Sheikh. Ghanem also commended Saudi King's decision of giving the Saudi women the right of participation in the Kingdom's municipal elections as both candidate and voter, describing the decision as historic.

Drastic change

Meanwhile, a number of Kuwaiti female activists lauded the election of women in municipal councils in Saudi Arabia for the first time after a ban on them taking part in elections was lifted. In separate statements to KUNA yesterday, Kuwaiti feminists agreed that winning seats in municipal councils' elections is considered a 'gain' and 'drastic change' of the general outlook to women in Saudi Arabia.

President of the Historical Society of Kuwait Sheikha Maymouna Al-Khalifa Al-Athbi Al-Sabah expressed her congratulation to Saudi women on this landmark achievement, hoping that Kuwaiti women would, eventually, win their quota in the parliaments.

Sheikha Maymouna, who is also president of citizenship and development association, said Saudi women are highly educated; hence, they are worthy of their participation in the democratic process of their country.

She gave credit to the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for allowing women to engage in the Shura Council, and lauding King Salman bin Abdulaziz for completing this march of giving women their rights by providing a quota for real participation in the councils.

Saudi women are qualified for effective participation in elections; this achievement will "put women in the right path" to help, side by side with their fellow men, in the country's development, Secretary of Kuwait Women Cultural Social Society Lulua Al-Mulla voiced out on Saudi women's capabilities as decision-makers.

Seham Al-Furaih, a professor of Arabic Literature at Kuwait University, meanwhile, said that Saudi women have already excelled in the fields of medicine and science and academics where they won many international prizes; hence, it is only natural to be part and parcel of the country's advancement by being elected in municipal councils.

A total of 979 women registered as candidates, alongside 6,917 men, to win 2,106 seats at municipal councils across Saudi Arabia is a number that should not be taken 'lightly' especially since it is their first female participation in a centuries dominate-male terrain, Furaih stressed.

Unprecedented participation

This strong unprecedented participation indicates that Saudi women are "successful," social and political advocate Nabilah Al-Anjari pointed out. Saudi women will have bigger opportunities now to engage in many social activities in their country, she added. The two previous rounds of voting for the municipal councils, in 2005 and 2011, were open to men only. Number of municipal councils across the country are 284 with a total of 3, 159 members, including 2,016 elected ones. - KUNA