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At least 20 women won municipal council  seats in Saudi Arabia’s first ever election open to female voters and  candidates, officials said Sunday, in a milestone for the ultra-conservative  Muslim kingdom.
“Even if it was only one woman, we’re really proud of that. Honestly, we  weren’t expecting anyone to win,” said Sahar Hassan Nasief, a women’s rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
But with 2,106 seats up for election, the 20 women would comprise only about one percent of Saudi Arabia’s elected council membership.
“We need more,” said Aljazi al-Hossaini, who was defeated in Diriyah on the edge of Riyadh, where at least three women won seats, according to Saudi  news channel Al-Ekhbaria.

She hoped women would be included among the one third of council seats  which are appointed by the municipal affairs ministry.
In the first announcement of a woman winner, Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi was elected in the holy city of Mecca, the official SPA news agency reported.
Another woman, Hanouf bint Mufrih bin Ayid al-Hazmi, won in the  northwestern region of Jawf, SPA said, adding that neighbouring Tabuk elected  two women.
In the kingdom’s east, Sanna Abdel Latif Hamam and Maasooma Abdel Mohsen  al-Rida were elected in Ihsa province, it added.
Watch: Women voted to public office in Saudi Arabia for the first time 

The duties of municipal councils are limited to local affairs including  responsibility for streets, public gardens and garbage collection.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with some of the world’s 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.
More than 900 women were among the 6,440 candidates running for seats on  284 councils.
They 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.
READ MORE: Women vote for first time in Saudi elections: ‘We have been waiting so long...’
However, nearly 81 per cent of 130,000 female registered voters cast ballots, said General Election Commission spokesman Hamad Al-Omar. That was almost twice the rate among male voters.
 
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Omar, who pointed out that the turnout among Saudi women was higher than in many elections in Western countries.
 
Among 1.35 million registered Saudi male voters, about 44 percent turned out, Omar said.
Female candidates expressed pride in running, even if they didn’t think  they would win, while women voters said they were happy at finally being able  to do something they had only seen on television or in movies.
Nassima al-Sadah, an activist in the eastern city of Qatif, said the voting  process itself took place relatively smoothly, unlike the registration.
Many female candidates used social media to campaign, but a handful of  others, including women’s rights activists, were disqualified from the process. 
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia boasts modern infrastructure of highways, skyscrapers  and ever-more shopping malls.
But women still require permission from male family members to travel, work  or marry.
Ruled by the Al-Saud family of King Salman, Saudi Arabia has no elected  legislature and faces intense Western scrutiny of its rights record.
A slow expansion of women’s rights began under Salman’s predecessor  Abdullah who announced four years ago that women would take part in the 2015  municipal elections.
Men have voted since 2005 in the local polls.
 


A first in Saudi Arabia: At least 20 women win municipal council seats in milestone election

After holding the first elections where woman can vote in Saudi Arabia yesterday, a woman has won a seat on the municipal council for the first time. Photo: AFP

 Photo: EPA

Aljazi al-Hussaini, a candidate for the municipal council in the town of Diriyah shows an electoral campaign license issued by the central municipal elections committee on November 29. Photo: AFP

Nassima al-Sadah. Photo: AFP

Women vote for first time in Saudi elections: ‘We have been waiting so long...’

epa05066147 Saudi women leave a polling station after casting their votes in the Kigdom's municipal elections, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 12 December 2015. For the first time Saudi women have been allowed to run and vote in the the country's municipal elections, regarded as a small but significant opening of the ultra conservative society to women. Though female candidates were not allowed to campaign and had to be accomapanied by a male guardian in order to be able to vote in the country where they are still not allowed by law to drive. The voting age was also lowered prior to the election from 21 to 18. EPA/AHMED YOSRI

Saudi election officials prepare to count votes at the end of the municipal elections, on December 12, 2015 in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah. Covered from head to toe and driven by male guardians, Saudi women voted for the first time, in a tentative step towards easing sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom. AFP PHOTO / STR

A Saudi woman casts her ballot at a polling station in the coastal city of Jeddah, on December 12, 2015, during municipal elections. Saudi women were allowed to vote in elections for the first time ever, in a tentative step towards easing widespread sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom. AFP PHOTO / STR

A Saudi woman casts her ballot at a polling center during municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Photo: AP

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