Four women win seats in landmark Saudi Arabia Municipal Elections

An electoral commission in Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that a woman has won a seat on a municipal council for the first time in the country.

Saudi Arabia announced Salima bint Hazab al-Otaibi was the first woman elected to public office, after winning a seat on the municipal council in Mecca in Saturday’s election.

The conservative capital of Riyadh saw the most female candidates win, with four elected.

The kingdom’s first municipal ballot in 2005 was for men only.

Until Saturday’s election, Saudi Arabia was the last country to allow only men to vote. “It doesn’t matter if I vote for a man or a woman”, said another northeastern resident, who gave her name only as Noura, 24. However, among the 6,440 candidates were more than 900 women, heralding change in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

“I did my best, and I did everything by myself”, said the 57-year-old management consultant, running in the Diriyah area on the edge of Riyadh.

ÒEven if it was only one woman, weÕre really proud of that.

Hatoon al-Fassi, a Saudi womens’ rights activist and writer, said in a tweet: “This is a new day”. As soon as they got to the polling center, many took selfies and posted them on their social media accounts.

Women have previously been appointed to the Shura (consultative) council and hold senior positions in business and academia.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Riyadh after the polls closed, described the elections as “momentous”.

The number of women in the Saudi workforce also has been increasing, from 23,000 in 2004 to more than 400,000 in 2015, according to the government.

Female candidates were also not allowed to address male voters directly during campaigning.

Women voters said registration was hindered by factors including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transportation.

Two-thirds of the seats in the kingdom’s 284 municipal councils were up for grabs in Saturday’s elections.

Electioneering was low key, with rules preventing photographs of candidates applied to both men and women.

But win or lose, the female contenders say they are already victorious. “I thought only young women were excited about these elections”. Despite the novel presence of female contenders, Marzooq said she picked a male candidate because of his ideas including more nurseries. “We are looking at it as an opportunity to exercise our right and to push for more”.

But even one would be a step forward, she said.

“Recognising women’s votes in decision-making is a step towards equality”, she said. But just outside polling stations they waited for male drivers – a reminder of the limitations they still face.