Saturday’s poll marked the first time that women could vote and stand as candidates in Saudi Arabia.
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Saudi women are set to vote and run for the first time ever in the country’s municipal elections that kicked off Saturday.
A female is elected as a councillor in Saudi Arabia – but women still face tight restrictions in the conservative kingdom.
Before King Abdullah’s death in January, he has left the legacy to allow Saudi Arabian women to vote.
Sultana al-Sultan, a 25-year-old woman seeking work in corporate management, is registered in the Riyadh suburb of Quwaiyah and will probably vote for one of the female candidates.
“People here are hoping this is a significant step on the paths towards having a more inclusive society, not only for women but also for youth because the voting age has been reduced from 21 to 18”, he said. Female candidates could not directly meet any male voters during their campaigns.
Not many women are expected to win seats because of the number of male candidates and because many had no previous experience running campaigns.
“It felt really good”, Salma al-Rashed, the first woman in Saudi Arabia to register to vote, told BBC.
“As a woman, I need some services, some needs in my neighbourhood, like nurseries for longer time”.
Mozah Alotalbi, who lives in the eastern city of al Khobar, described going along to vote with her mother and three sisters as a “unique” feeling.
The races at hand – more than 3000 municipal council seats across the kingdom – have no influence over decisions by Saudi rulers on social policies or in any other key areas.
“If you look back at the history of women (in Islam), there are so many strong women”, she said.
According to the report, Bokhary is among the 979 women vying for a seat in the municipal councils of Saudi.
Approximately 130,000 women registered to vote in the election alongside 1.35 million men.
However, while women’s suffrage has in many other countries been a transformative moment in the quest for gender equality, its impact in Saudi Arabia is likely to be more limited due to a wider lack of democracy and continued social conservatism. The authorities gave no reason for not allowing them to participate, but many had previously been politically active, including advocates for women’s driving and the advancement of the Shi’ite Muslim minority.
Abdullah also appointed 30 women in the Shura Council before his death.
Historic… While Saudi women can now vote they still can’t drive a auto. “We see Saudi women as ministers, as presidents of universities, as surgeons”.
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Amal Badredin Alsnari arrived at the community center she believed was her polling place before the doors opened at 8 a.m., clutching her voter ID card. She wrote: “We take this opportunity to call on his Majesty King Salman to act on his promises and pardon my husband, end his and his family’s ordeal and unite him with his wife and children”. The run-up to the polling has inspired her in other ways, and she’s mulling over running in the next elections in 2019.
