19 women elected to Municipalities in Saudi Arabia

A Saudi woman, right, leaves the polling center after casting her vote as another woman prepares to enter during the country’s municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015.

Huda al-Jeraisy, who as the daughter of a former head of the chamber of commerce in the conservative central part of the kingdom was seen by some Saudis as imparting an official stamp of approval on women’s candidature, won a seat in Riyadh.

As soon as news of some women candidates winning municipal council seats from Makkah region came out, there was celebration by voters on Sunday. Mona el-Emery and Fadhila al-Attawy won in the northwestern region of Tabuk.

Saudi officials first proposed allowing women to vote in 2005, according to Human Rights Watch.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, including a ban on driving.

General Election Commission spokesman Hamad Al-Omar told the AP that out of 130,000 female registered voters, a staggering 106,000 cast ballots, or roughly 82 per cent.

Results from Northern Borders Province and the South-Western province of Asir, the only others to have been announced, had no successful women candidates.

Many women candidates ran on platforms that promised more nurseries to offer longer daycare hours for working mothers, the creation of youth centres with sports and cultural activities, improved roads, better garbage collection and overall greener cities. In October, the Saudi Gazette reported that harsh road conditions and long distances to the nearest hospital had forced some women in Madrakah, where al-Oteibi was elected, to give birth in cars.

King Salman holds all legitimate power, leaving some voters – both male and female – apathetic about enfranchisement. The article said residents were also frustrated with the lack of parks in the village. Many others said they simply didn’t care. She remembers opportunities for women shrinking as clerics called for more restrictive Sharia law and social principles.

Ruled by the al-Saud family of King Salman, Saudi Arabia has no elected legislature and faces intense Western scrutiny of its rights record.

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.

“It was not a good time for discussions about women’s empowerment”, said Alturki, who said most professions at the time were limited to men. “It was a thrilling experience”.