The United States on Sunday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s first ever election open to female voters and candidates, calling it a historic milestone. “I think it’s great that several women won in different regions of Saudi Arabia”, said writer Maha Akeel.
Advertisement
More than 900 women were among the 6,440 candidates running for seats on 284 councils.
One of the female candidates, Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi, won a local council seat in Madrakah, Mecca province, the head of the country’s election commission said.
Hanuf al-Hazmi, elected in the Jawf region, said in an interview with a local news website that she would make a special effort to deal with women’s issues, focusing on childcare, youth centres, roads, rubbish collection and parks. Overall turnout was about 25 percent, and 130,000 women were registered to vote. This is the first time in the history of the country women were allowed to vote and contest for local government seats.
Sadah said many female candidates used social media to campaign, but some others, including women’s rights activists, were disqualified from campaigning.
“There are limitations not being able to meet with the public, so I chose to go to the shopping centers so I can be with the community”, another candidate said. Out of 1.35 million men registered, nearly 600,000 cast ballots.
Municipal councils have limited powers in terms of lawmaking but the election of women to official posts is viewed as a largely progressive step in the conservative kingdom that bars women from driving cars. Under Abdullah, women began to take on a larger public role; he even ordered that 20 percent of members of the Shura Council, the kingdom’s consultative body, be female. “Three of them are woman and 17 are men (in Riyadh) and we are very glad for these results and looking for those winners that will participate in our council and we will see the fruitful of their participation”, said Engineer Ibrahim Al-Sultan, mayor of Riyadh, following the results announcement.
But she hoped Uber’s offer “hopefully may help towards getting more women to the polling stations”.
Advertisement
Turnout for women was around 80 percent in parts of the country, well in excess of the figure for men, according to official data analysed by AFP. “I’m about to do it”, Jawaher al-Rawili, 30-year-old government worker told her friend over the phone before entering a women-only polling station in Riyadh. Women are not allowed to drive and are governed by guardianship laws that give men final say over aspects of their lives such as marriage, travel and higher education. “It was a thrilling experience”.
