Saudi women made history, but still have a long way to go

At least 20 women won seats for the first time in Saudi Arabia’s municipal polls, the elections commission said on Monday, December 14. Salema bint Hizab al-Otaibi was running against seven men and two women and won a spot representing Madrakah, a small village just north of Mecca.

Winners came from the south as well, with one woman elected in Jazan region, while two others including Lama al-Suleiman will join councils in Jeddah, the kingdom’s second city, local election officials cited by SPA said.

The turnout of women in Saudi Arabia’s first election open to female voters and candidates was almost 80 percent in places, according to data analysed on Sunday by AFP.

State-affiliated websites and independent news agencies indicate Saudi Arabians may have elected as many as 17 women, but no final tally has been announced.

While the elections mark a historical moment in the Islamic country’s history, Saudi women are still not allowed to drive and remain governed by strict guardianship laws which allow men control over the major aspects of their lives including marriage, travel and education.

Her daughter, Sahar Hassan Nasief, said the experience marked “the beginning” of greater rights for women in Saudi Arabia.

The latest move to allow Saudi women to vote has sparked hopes that the Al Saud ruling family will eventually implement future changes in the country’s political system.

It was the first time women could both run for office and vote in the deeply conservative country.

Women have also been appointed to the Shura Council, though it functions as little more than an advisory body to the absolute monarch, King Salman.

Among the 6,440 candidates were more than 900 women, who overcame a number of obstacles to participate in the landmark poll. The councils oversee local issues, including budgets for the upkeep of public facilities. More than 1.35 million men had registered to vote, with 44 percent, or nearly 600,000, casting ballots.

Of course women’s participation was met with discrimination and refusal, according to Alarabiya, a lot of religious police forces were seen handing out pamphlets that accuse anyone who votes for women in elections as a sinner. “They have always been there for me to win”, she says.