Saudis elect 17 women in landmark local council polls

The development is viewed as historic for Saudi Arabia where women have fewer rights than men, being forbidden to drive cars and making major life decisions without consent from male relatives, among other restrictions.

Overall results were to be announced later by the election commission. “Regardless of the outcome, women were big winners today”, she said.

One of the elderly women, whom Akeel spoke to, said: “We have been waiting for this day for a long time, and very early on, we went through all the cumbersome procedures to get ourselves registered as voters”.

“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.

He did not provide a further breakdown, but AFP reviewed data issued by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and the election commission.

She acknowledged that the support of her large extended family helped her over the top in Saturday’s balloting; she won by 97 votes.

But it remains to be seen whether this development will continue, given the opposition from many Saudi clerics to even small moves toward women’s emancipation.

Votes were still being counted on Sunday morning, but three other women are thought also to have secured seats according to local reports.

Saudi officials first proposed allowing women to vote in 2005, according to Human Rights Watch. “The day of the Saudi woman”, Saudi women’s rights activist and writer Hatoon al-Fassi declared in a tweet.

Though there are no quotas for female council members, an additional 1,050 seats are appointed with approval by the king who could use his powers to ensure more women are represented.

Congratulations to all Saudi women, and to Salma Al Otebi the first Saud woman to win an election.

The elections come at a time of great social change in Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the United States.

The first Saudi woman won in an election, however the election is useless and the council itself is powerless. She was running against seven men and two women.

A total of 978 women registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men. Several women blamed the cumbersome registration process for the low numbers.

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

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.

Another female voter, Najla Harir, said: “I exercised my electoral right”. The all-female team of election volunteers applauded as she dropped her ballot in the box.