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JEDDAH, 1 December 2005 — Two women — Lama Al-Sulaiman and
Nashwa Taher — created history yesterday by winning election
to the board of directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
In highly surprising and exciting results to the extremely
competitive elections, the Lejeddah group, which included Lama
Al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher, swept the 12 seats in the
elections. A total of 17 women ran in the historic elections,
but no one expected any of them to win. It was the first time
ever that women were elected to the JCCI board.
“I’m excited and exhausted,” Al-Sulaiman told Arab News.
“I’m still in a shock. I worked hard and went for a win but I
also gave myself a leeway so as not to be disappointed if I
didn’t win.” She hopes that by winning she would be able to do
her part as a businesswoman on the board and help in opening
the door for future participation of women in business.
Taher, who helps run a group of family companies with
interests ranging from foodstuffs to contracting, said, “This
means there is trust (in women). Professionalism is very
important ... And this is my message to Saudi women: Take your
work seriously, without forgetting your role as a mother and
wife.”
“We should give them (women) a chance because they have
little representation in society,” one male voter had said on
Tuesday, adding that he had voted for four women.
Taher, 44, attributed her success to the support of both
her parents and husband, as well as her own perseverance.
The fact that women, who previously were entitled only to
vote for the Jeddah chamber’s board, stood as candidates “was
also an unique event which contributed to making this election
unusual,” said Othman Basaqr, a member of a task force which
assisted the elections committee.
“This is what everybody seems to be telling me,”
Al-Sulaiman said when asked if she felt she had made
history.
Many observers of the elections expected members of the
Lejeddah group to win most of the seats due to their early
start and well organized campaign. The group listed six
nominees under the commerce sector and six under the
industrialist sector. They ran on a seven-point platform:
Developing Jeddah’s economic environment, supporting small
establishments, reviewing and facilitating government
procedures, supporting businesswomen, supporting Saudization,
supporting the chamber’s initiatives nationally and
internationally, and developing the chamber administratively
and technically.
The final tally of the votes was: Under commerce sector —
Ziyad Al-Bassam with 1,475 votes, Mohammed Al-Fadhl 1,248,
Lama Al-Sulaiman 1,138, Nashwa Taher 1,015, Sami Bahrawi 943
and Abdul Ghani Sabbagh with 920 votes.
Under the industrialist sector the tally was — Mohammed
Jameel with 1,946 votes, Saleh Binladin 1,658, Mazin Batarji
1,389, Abdullah Al-Muallimi 13,48, Mohyeddin Kamil 1,320 and
Saleh Al-Turki with 1,268 votes.
The Lejeddah group made a statement thanking God for their
success, the voters for their confidence and the team members
for their hard work. They also thanked Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques King Abdullah for providing the opportunity for
the citizens to serve the commercial and industrial sectors.
They thanked Makkah region governor, the minister of commerce
and the public for their support, especially of women, and
they reitgerated their commitment to the country’s Islamic
values.
The final tally of the votes was not announced until the
early hours of yesterday morning. Although the counting of the
votes was electronically done except for the last 120, the
unprecedentedly large number of voters contributed to the
delay in the announcement which everyone expected to be made
by Tuesday evening.
Five of the winners are members of the previous board of
directors. The other seven are new to the board. The Ministry
of Commerce will appoint six members to the 18-member board.
This election was distinguished in being the first to include
women candidates, to have the largest number of candidates and
attracting the largest number of voters ever.
Some 21,000 members of the Jeddah chamber, or about half
the total membership, were eligible to take part in the polls.
Election officials said both the turnout and the number of
candidates were a record in the chamber’s 60-year history.
In their campaigns, both Al-Sulaiman and Taher vowed to
back a center that assists businesswomen and to help women
working from home.
Victory “means we will have more work ... There’s a lot for
us to learn, but I’m sure we will manage,” said Al-Sulaiman,
who holds a doctorate in nutrition from King’s College in
London. | 
