First Saudi women elected to public office in local poll

In October, the Saudi Gazette reported that 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.

Following numerous struggles, campaigning and law suits for women’s suffrage, on September 25, 2011, King Abdullah finally declared before the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, that Saudi women would be permitted to both run and cast ballots in the 2015 municipal elections.

Women’s participation in this weekend’s elections is an important step in the struggle for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, but formidable obstacles remain. Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi is a teacher from a small town of Mudrika which is outside the holy city of Mecca.

“What we have started, we will continue”, declared Rasha Hefzi, a Saudi businesswoman who won a seat in Jeddah. Four of them won from the capital city of Riyadh, and two each from the Eastern Province, where the minority Shia community is concentrated, and Jeddah.

Khadra al-Mubarak in the Gulf coast city of Qatif confirmed that she was also among the victors.

Elections of any kind are rare in the Saudi kingdom – Saturday was only the third time in history that Saudis had gone to the polls. Another was elected in al-Babtain district.

In Medina too one woman was elected.

“I walked in and said “I’ve have never seen this before”.

Out of a total of about 6,900 candidates-some 980 of them women-competed for the seats on the councils-the only popularly elected bodies in this kingdom. The duties of municipal councils are limited to local affairs including streets, public gardens and garbage collection.

Saudi website sabq.org is reporting 20 women have been elected to councils around the country.

“These have been much more hard, they come from more conservative backgrounds”.

Female candidates were forbidden to talk to male voters face-to-face, so a group of popular stand-up comedians campaigned for her and performed in person at all-male rallies.

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

According to election commission data, almost 1.5 million people aged 18 and over were registered for the polls.

Still, Saudi officials said about 130,000 women registered to vote. Who would believe that this is the society that is called patriarchal and confiscates the rights of women yet promptly delivers those rights and favours female candidates over male ones from its very first experience?