Saudi women win seats in historic vote

Saturday’s historic elections for municipal councils marked the first time women in the country were allowed to vote and run for office. Women won only 20 seats out of more than 2,000 in local councils across the country, but it was more than the candidates expected.

The late King Abdullah announced that the women would vote in 2015 as he had been looking to increase the public role of females in the country. At least 17 women were elected in Saturday’s municipal council elections, a state-run new site reported Sunday.

The mayor of the city of Mecca, Osama al-Bar, told the AP that a woman won in a village called Madrakah, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of the city which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which Muslims around the world pray.

While the ban on driving for women is still considered an issue, Najd al-Hababi, sibling of one of the female candidates, said it isn’t the main concern at the moment.

A woman votes at a polling center during municipal elections, the first in which women could vote, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two women were elected in Tabuk, and one in al-Jawf, in the kingdom’s northernmost areas won.

Sadah said many female candidates used social media to campaign, but some others, including women’s rights activists, were disqualified from campaigning.

Officials have noted that about 130,000 women registered to vote, which is a far cry from the 1.35 million male registered voters. The point is that against hard odds voters in Saudi Arabia signaled that, indeed, the times there are a changin’ – finally.

The election was held for only the two thirds of the municipal councils’ positions, which do not have national or lawmaking powers.

However, law in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, doesn’t allow women to drive, and gives men the authority to decide civil matters, including marriage and higher education, for them.

It is worth noting that the female registered candidates still had to stay hidden when speaking during campaigns.

Ruled by the al-Saud family of King Salman, Saudi Arabia has no elected legislature and faces intense Western scrutiny of its rights record. Women everywhere in Saudi Arabia welcomed the novelty of casting their first ballots. The oldest woman in the family was 94 year-old Naela Mohammad Nasief.

“Despite that, I excelled until I graduated with a bachelor’s degree with honours in the Arabic language”, she said. “It was a thrilling experience”. We’re doing history now.