” This was prior to when the late King Abdullah appointed women into his council of advisers”.
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In the first election that women were allowed to contest – and the first that they were allowed to vote in – at least 20 women have made history in Saudi Arabia by winning seats on municipal councils around the country.
One female candidate also won from a village called Madrakah, which is about 190 miles north of Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.
The report further states that over 900 women ran for seats.
Nine hundred and seventy-nine of the 6,917 candidates who ran in the elections for seats on 284 municipal councils were women.
According to BBC, 978 women were registered as candidates in the election next to 5,938 men, and officials said almost 130,000 women were registered to vote compared to 1.35 million men.
Women aren’t allowed to speak with men in public they’re not related to, meaning female candidates and male candidates can’t speak to each other.
“People here are hoping this is a significant step on the path 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.
“I think it’s an enormous success”, she said.
Veiled Saudi women take photos of their children during a ceremony to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s Independence Day in Riyadh, September 23, 2009. Women posed for pictures behind the ballot box and yelled “Mabrook”, Arabic for congratulations, to one another as they exited.
The conservative capital of Riyadh saw the most female candidates win, with four elected.
The first Saudi Arabian women to vote celebrated with hugs and selfies and lingered at the polls to share the moment on Saturday. Although King Abdullah died in January this year, it is refreshing to know that the new conservative King Salman has followed in his steps by allowing women to vote and be voted for. Less than ten percent of the voters were female, owing in part to the obstacles they faced before participating in the elections, including transportation problems because of the kingdom’s ban on female drivers and bureaucratic hindrances to voter registration.
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Saudi women are still forbidden to drive a vehicle and are legally dependent on a male relative to approve nearly all their major life decisions.
