Woman wins seat on Mecca municipal council in Saudi polls

The nominees were vying seats. council for about 2,100 Are appointed seats an added 1,050 with approval from King Salman, who could use his powers to appoint female candidates who do not win outright.

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

However, while women’s suffrage has in many other countries been a transformative moment in the quest for gender equality, its impact in Saudi Arabia is likely to be more limited due to a wider lack of democracy and continued social conservatism.

“The vote is seen as a small step to open the way for a more equal role for women in this conservative Kingdom”.

Candidate Latifa Al-Bazei, a 53-year-old public school principal, said her participation in the race felt like a continuation of her service to the community.

There were many firsts for Saudi Arabia in terms of elections. “Now we feel we are part of society, that we contribute”, Sara Ahmed, a physiotherapist, told Reuters.

The female candidates were elected to three councils – two in Ihsaa governorate and one each in Tobouk and Makkah – as votes were still being counted on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported. A popular online taxi service offers free rides to the polls in the only country where women are prohibited from driving.

“Our society is dominated by men in appearance, but women work everywhere”.

What’s more, some 980 female candidates ran for municipal council seats, races in which they were outnumbered by male candidates 6-1.

More than 900 women are running for seats on municipal councils, Saudi Arabia’s only elected public chambers.

“We are looking at it as an opportunity to exercise our right and to push for more”, she said.

Al-Bar also confirmed through election officials in Saudi Arabia’s second largest city of Jiddah that another female candidate, Lama al-Suleiman, had won a seat there.

As a result, women accounted for less than 10% of registered voters.

An AFP reporter at a male polling centre in central Riyadh said only a handful of voters arrived to cast early ballots after voting opened at 8:00 am.

“As long as she has her own place and there is no mixing with men, what prevents her from voting?” “If we allow her out of the house to do such business, who is going to take care of my sons?” They must also be accompanied by a male chaparone known as a mahram when they leave their homes.

Polling stations were also segregated Saturday. Female candidates could not directly meet any male voters during their campaigns.

Municipal councils are the only government body in which Saudi citizens can elect their representatives.

The election was only the third one in Saudi history – with none held for 40 years between 1965 and 2005.