History made as 17 Saudi women win council seats
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AT least 17 women won municipal council seats in Saudi ArabiaÕs first ever election open to female voters and candidates, officials said yesterday, in a milestone for the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
ÒEven if it was only one woman, weÕre really proud of that. Honestly, we werenÕt expecting anyone to win,Ó said Sahar Hassan Nasief, a womenÕs rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
At least 17 women emerged victorious from a field of candidates vastly outnumbered by men in a male-dominated society.
Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi was elected to a council in the holy city of Mecca, the official SPA news agency reported, citing election commission president Osama al-Bar.
She ran against seven men and two women in SaturdayÕs ballot, he added.
A second woman, Hanouf bint Mufrih bin Ayid al-Hazmi, won in the northwestern region of Jawf, SPA said, adding that in the kingdomÕs east, Sanna Abdel Latif Hamam and Maasooma Abdel Mohsen al-Rida were elected in Ihsa province.
At least three women in the capital Riyadh won council seats, according to a Saudi news channel, al-Ekhbaria. Overall results were to be announced later by the election commission.
Their duties on municipal councils will be limited to local affairs, including responsibility for streets, public gardens and rubbish collection.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with some of the worldÕs tightest restrictions on women, including a ban on driving.
It was the last country to allow only men to vote, and polling stations were segregated during the ballot.
Among the 6,440 candidates running for seats on 284 councils were more than 900 women, who had to overcome a number of obstacles to participate in the landmark poll.
Female candidates could not meet face-to-face with male voters during campaigning, while neither men nor women could publish their pictures.
Women voters said registration was hindered by factors, including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transportation.
As a result, women accounted for less than 10 percent of registered voters.
According to election commission data, nearly 1.5 million people aged 18 and over were registered for the polls.
This included about 119,000 women, out of a total native Saudi population of 21 million.
At least one part of the country reported a female turnout exceeding 80 percent, according to official data.
In the mountainous Baha region, in the kingdomÕs southwest, 946 women voted, according to the local election commission cited by SPA.
With 1,146 women registered, that translated into an 82.5 percent turnout, data showed.
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