VZCZCXRO4926
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDH #0275/01 3250556
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 210556Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL DHAHRAN
INFO RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0416
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0316
RUEHZM/GCC C COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAHRAN 000275 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARP JOSHUA HARRIS AND JEREMY BERNDT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  11/18/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON SA
SUBJECT: WOMEN CANDIDATES TRY AGAIN IN EASTERN PROVINCE CHAMBER OF 
COMMERCE ELECTIONS 
 
DHAHRAN 00000275  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Joseph Kenny, Dhahran Consul General, Department 
of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
SUMMARY 
 
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¶1. (U) For the second time in the history of the Eastern 
Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI), the 
Government (SAG) will allow women to run for membership on the 
board of the EPCCI.  Their previous attempt to obtain a seat on 
the board in 2005 was unsuccessful.  This time around, women are 
better organized and strategizing for victory.  The ballot will 
include three female candidates (a fourth candidate recently 
withdrew), who are optimistic they will be able to provide a 
strong showing.  More doubtful, even among women, are their 
prospects for victory.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
Elections 
 
--------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) On November 8, PolOff met with Abdul Rahman F. al-Homiyn, 
Assistant Secretary General for Committees Affairs at the 
Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI) and 
Saeed al-Abdullah, Public Relations Department Manager.  The 
discussion focused on EPCCI structure and organization, as well 
as the upcoming elections of the new EPCCI Board.  Figuring 
prominently in the discussion of the upcoming elections was the 
role of women candidates.  This is only the second election in 
which the SAG will allow women to place their name on the 
ballot.  Their last attempt to obtain a seat, in 2005, was 
unsuccessful. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Candidate submissions for the upcoming EPCCI elections 
closed in early November.  Thirty-eight candidates are in the 
running, 10 so-called "industrialists" and 28 "merchants."  The 
women participating in the election fall under the "merchants" 
category, said al-Homiyn.  The Ministry of Commerce and Industry 
(MOCI) oversees the process, without interference, according to 
al-Homiyn.  There are approximately 40,000 registered, paying 
members of the EPCCI, which accepts members on five different 
tiers, ranging from 400SR (approximately $100/yr) to 10,000SR 
($2600/yr) for an annual membership.  There are an estimated 
1,200 female members.  The EPCCI holds elections for 12 of its 
18 board members every four years; the remaining six members are 
selected and appointed by the MOCI during the same period. 
There were six polling stations available for voting during the 
previous election.  At that time, there were only an estimated 
22,000 members in the EPCCI, said al-Homiyn.  (Comment:  The 
near doubling in EPCCI membership is evidence of the economic 
boom and the growth of business the EP has experienced over the 
past several years.  End Comment.)  Al-Homiyn was unaware of how 
many polling stations will be available this year.  PolOff will 
visit election sites, to the extent possible, once their 
locations are available. 
 
 
 
 
 
Strategizing 
 
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¶4. (C) On November 8, PolOff met with Samia al-Edrisi (protect), 
a prominent businesswoman and CEO of an Eastern Province company 
(Eastern Forum Co. Ltd. for Advancement and Development, 
currently investing in real estate), in her home.  She was a 
candidate during the 2005 EPCCI elections and said that the 2005 
elections included women on the ballot very late in the game. 
As such, she emphasized, there was insufficient time to prepare 
and develop an election strategy.  Al-Edrisi said she will not 
run for a seat on the EPCCI Board this year.  However, she and 
her associates are in the process of determining which of the 
current female candidates to endorse.  Once this is decided, her 
company will put its full weight and resources behind the female 
candidate, to include financial backing, a call center, and 
media exposure.  Al-Edrisi, despite her commitment, is not 
confident that voters will elect a female candidate.  Her 
strategy, however, is to generate enough votes for a single 
female candidate, thereby demonstrating the popular desire to 
 
DHAHRAN 00000275  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
have a female representative on the board.  In addition, she 
hopes that a strong showing will pressure the appointment of a 
woman to one of the board's six appointed seats. 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Al-Edrisi is expecting that a strong showing in the 
election will force the hand of the Minister of Commerce and 
Industry to appoint a female to the board.  Al-Edrisi's motives 
go beyond the current election however.  She is calculating that 
a strong showing of female candidates, including a possible 
victory with the appointment of a female to the board, could 
yield political dividends further down the road.  If and when 
Municipal Council elections allow women to participate, 
al-Edrisi expects to use the political capital from her EPCCI 
experience to run as a Municipal Council candidate. 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) Also, on November 8, PDOff attended an event hosted by 
Haifa Ahmed al-Romaih, EPCCI Business Women Committee Vice 
Chairman, for the women running in the EPCCI elections.  A 
member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Lama 
Suleiman, was scheduled to deliver remarks.  However, she was 
unable to attend.  Many of the women present at the event 
recognized the importance of public support.  They are 
strategizing how best to secure endorsements from companies. 
They said that they are not concerned that the "women's vote" is 
split by four women and they will support all of the women 
contestants.  The mantra repeated among them was "We want 
change."  (Comment:  The women are campaign savvy, and they are 
trying to use technology and the media to show that they have 
the confidence that they can win.  Additionally, it was evident 
that most of them view their running for the elections as a 
women's rights issue, as well as a way to confront the old boy's 
network.  End Comment.)  PDOff also met with  Hana al-Zuheir 
(protect), former head of the Women's Chamber of Commerce and 
current head of the Prince Sultan Fund, on November 9 to discuss 
the upcoming elections. 
 
 
 
 
 
And The Candidates Are . . . 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C) The women candidates are: 
 
o   Souad al-Zaidi: grew up in Aramco.  Not viewed as strong in 
business, but very savvy. 
 
o   Fawzia al-Kari: began her career in the field of education, 
now works in the construction business, which is very rare for a 
Saudi woman.  Viewed as strong in business, but not as savvy as 
Suad al-Zaydi.  Fawzia entered the race, she said, because she 
saw that no other women were running and thus was shocked. 
 
o   Dina al-Faris: regarded as young and ambitious.  At age 29, 
she holds a B.A. in International Business Management and an 
LLM.  She now works as Assistant to the President for Al-Faris 
Group. 
 
o   Aqila Madkhali: relative unknown, comes from the education 
field.  On November 16, Samia al-Edrisi reported that Aqila 
withdrew her candidacy. Samia commented that Aqila, a 
conservative Muslim with little business experience, withdrew as 
a result of feeling overwhelmed by the process of elections. 
 
 
 
These women are working closely with the women who ran in the 
2005 EPCCI elections, as well as with female members of the 
Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hoping to learn from 
their experience.  The prevailing view is that in 2005, there 
was a lot of talk about supporting the women running, but when 
the rubber hit the road, they received absolutely no support. 
According to Hana al-Zuheir, who was an election observer in 
2005, the vast majority of women cast their ballots for men. 
 
 
 
 
 
Composition of the EPCCI Board and Candidates 
 
 
DHAHRAN 00000275  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Changes to the regulations for this year's elections, 
which women view as working in their favor, include: 
 
o   The Minister of Commerce and Industry will appoint the 
Secretary General for the Kingdom-wide Chamber of Commerce 
(rather than elect). 
 
o   There will be no caucuses/parties/blocs allowed. 
 
o   Each voter will vote for one person only, instead of a set 
of candidates. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
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¶9. (C) The inclusion of women in the 2009 EPCCI elections is 
significant because it may eventually pave the way for women to 
run for other offices.  These women believe that it is unlikely 
they could win in the EPCCI elections, but it is not about 
winning for them.  They view their participation in the 
elections, no matter the outcome, as progress.   It was only in 
2005 that the EPCCI elections were opened to women candidates. 
It is believed that some sectors of government, anticipating the 
strong opposition to women's political participation from 
religious conservatives, want to introduce the notion of 
elections, as well as women's participation in them, gradually. 
It is anticipated that municipal elections will be next, though 
the date remains unclear.  Municipal elections were scheduled 
for November 2009 but are now postponed for two years.  The 
status quo may not be disturbed by women's participation in the 
EPCCI elections.  However, their participation in the EPCCI 
elections could open the door ever so slightly to greater female 
participation in business and government organizations.  End 
Comment. 
CG: JKENNY