The participation of women represents an important step forward in Saudi Arabia toward a more inclusive electoral process that will ensure all citizens are represented in a government accountable to all Saudi citizens. Her daughter, Sahar Hassan Nasief, said the experience marked “the beginning” of greater rights for women in Saudi Arabia.
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The move became possible when the late King Abdullah announced in 2011 that women would be able to vote in this election.
The other two women who won the elections from Makkah region are Dr. Lama Al-Sulaiman, vice-chairman of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Rasha Al-Hifzi.
The conservative capital of Riyadh saw the most women candidates win, with four elected. “I promise I will represent her by all means”, said Mubarak, one of two women elected in the Eastern region.
Saudi website sabq.org is reporting 20 women have been elected to councils around the country.
The duties of municipal councils are limited to local affairs including streets, public gardens and garbage collection.
Before Abdullah announced women would take part in this year’s elections, the country’s Grand Mufti, its most senior religious figure, described women’s involvement in politics as “opening the door to evil”.
More than 900 women were among the 6,440 candidates standing for seats on 284 councils.
Wafa Abu Hadi, a Saudi writer, said: “It reflects a broader change in Saudi Arabia regarding women’s rights and will stop those from commenting that the Kingdom is not giving rights to women”. “However, 235 candidates, nine of them women, were stopped from participating due to violations, and they were penalized with SR50,000 each”.
Female candidates could not meet face-to-face with male voters during campaigning, while neither men nor women could publish their pictures.
Female voters said registration was hindered by factors including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transport.
According to election commission data, almost 1.5 million people aged 18 and above signed up for the polls.
Voter turnout among women was exceptionally high.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia boasts modern infrastructure of highways, skyscrapers and ever-more shopping malls. The turnout was good and the voting proceeded smoothly.
But women still face many restrictions.
Many women saw the election as a turning point in this absolute monarchy where the political system remains firmly in the hands of the royal family, and women are still deprived of many basic rights-such as driving or traveling overseas without the permission of a male relative.
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Men have voted since 2005 in the local polls. In response to reports similar to the Saudi Gazette’s report about how harsh road conditions and long distances to the nearest hospital had forced some women in the village of Madrakah, where one female candidate was elected, to give birth in cars.
