JEDDAH: The Administrative Court in Jeddah has turned down a claim by a Saudi woman against the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs for barring her from inclusion on the electoral register for municipal elections. According to Al-Hayat Arabic daily, the lawyer for Samar Badawi, said the court turned down the claim Wednesday on the grounds that it was “premature”, but he added that his client would appeal when a copy of the ruling is issued in two weeks' time. “The appeal will be based on the clarifications related to the refusal of the claim,” Waleed Abu Al-Khair said. “We brought the case on the grounds that the law gives all citizens the right to take part in municipal elections irrespective of gender. The stipulated conditions for running for election and voting do not state that women are barred from taking part.” Saudi Gazette reported on April 29 that Badawi had claimed a small victory when the Administrative Court – also known as the Board of Grievances – agreed to hear her case against the ministry for excluding women from the electoral register. She said that election centers had refused to register her and other women “despite the fact that there is nothing in the law barring women from registering as voters or election candidates”. Badawi requested in her complaint that the court order an “immediate suspension of all election procedures until the court has ruled on the complaint”.
