There had been heavy criticism in the lead up to the election from rights groups that the measure represented only limited progress due to the undemocratic nature of the country and heavy restrictions on women’s right to campaign.
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While the elections mark a historical moment in the Islamic country’s history, Saudi women are still not allowed to drive and remain governed by strict guardianship laws which allow men control over the major aspects of their lives including marriage, travel and education.
“I think it’s fantastic”, said Mr Omar, who pointed out that the turnout among Saudi women was higher than in many elections in Western countries.
Saudi women prepare to vote at a polling centre during the country’s municipal elections in Riyadh on Saturday.
The municipal council is the only government body in which Saudi citizens can elect their representatives.
Another woman won in Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad’s first mosque was built.
Winners came from the south as well, with one woman elected in Jazan region, while two others including Lama al-Suleiman will join councils in Jeddah, the kingdom’s second city, local election officials cited by SPA said. “We have accumulated quite a number of voters, with about 600,000 voters this time, and about 130,000 among them are female, taking up about 24 per cent of the overall registered voters”. Out of 1.35 million men registered, nearly 600,000 cast ballots.
Female candidates expressed pride in running, even if they didn’t think they would win, while women voters, some of them tearful, said they were happy at finally being able to do something they had only seen on television or in movies.
“We need more”, said Aljazi al-Hossaini, who was defeated in Diriyah on the edge of Riyadh, where three women won seats, according to Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbaria.
“It is precisely these kinds of community problems that female candidates hope to solve once elected to the municipal councils”. The councils oversee local issues, including budgets for the upkeep of public facilities.
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The previous two rounds of voting for the councils, in 2005 and 2011, were open to men only. Women everywhere in Saudi Arabia welcomed the novelty of casting their first ballots.
