At least four women have won seats in Saudi Arabia’s municipal polls, the country’s first-ever elections open to female voters and candidates, local reports said.
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Electoral sources in the holy kingdom disclosed that Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi won a seat in Mecca province in Saturday’s vote. The announcement was made by Osama al-Bar, president of the regional election commission.
Al Jazeera has confirmed that the female candidates were elected across three councils – two in Ihsaa, one in Tobouk, one in Jiddad and another in Mecca.
“Saudi women have faced significant obstacles in their fight for their right to vote and run in the municipal council elections, but their participation on December 12 will send a strong signal to Saudi society that women are continuing the long march toward greater participation in public life”, Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last week.
Saudi activist Ghada Ghazzawi tapes a selfie video marking a historical day for Saudi women as she arrives to vote for the municipal elections.
Female candidates expressed pride in running, even if they didn’t think they would win, while women voters said they were happy at finally being able to do something they had only seen on television or in movies.
“There are people who see women voting and running in the election as another step towards Westernisation”.
Men have voted since 2005 in elections for municipal councils, a third of whose seats are appointed.
Electioneering was low key, with rules preventing photographs of candidates applied to both men and women. The councils do not have legislative powers, but advise authorities and help oversee local budgets.
Of the 6 917 candidates who contested the elections held on Saturday in the Gulf oil-rich country, 979 were women.
A woman casts her ballot in Jeddah.
“I’m about to do it”, 30-year-old government worker Jawaher al-Rawili told a friend over the phone before entering a women-only polling station in Riyadh.
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Still, there was no denying that the ultraconservative Sunni Muslim kingdom had fundamentally changed the definition of citizenship for half the country – and nudged Saudi policies just a bit further away from more uncompromising interpretations of Islam. Many others said they simply didn’t care.
