According to the results published by Al Arabiya television
on its website, six women who vied in Saturday’s election will be seated on
local councils, Al Arabiya reported. Among the 6,440 candidates contesting
some 2,100 seats were more than 900 women, who overcame a number of
obstacles to participate in the landmark poll.
One of the female winners was Salma
bint Hizab al-Oteibi, who was elected to the council of Madrakah, a region in
the holy city of Mecca. Hizab al-Oteibi was running against seven men and two
women.
Other winners includes Lama al-Suleiman and Rasha Hufaithi
in Jeddah, Hanouf al-Hazimi in Al Jouf province, and Sanaa al-Hammam and
Masoumah Abdelreda in the Ahsa region.
Before his death in January, King Abdullah ordered the
inclusion of women in municipal elections, the only nationwide vote in the
absolute monarchy. He also appointed women to the country’s 150-member
Consultative Council and opened more areas of the labour market to them as part
of the royal family’s gradual ease of restrictions on the role of women in
society and the economy.
At the same time, the changes are more cosmetic than
seismic. Municipal council representatives deal with issues such as parking
facilities and hospital improvements, and not the overarching issues that
affect a society where women are still banned from driving and need a male
guardian’s permission to have some surgical procedures.
During the election campaign, candidates were not allowed to
address voters of the opposite sex but were permitted to use segregated halls
with audio and visual links. Women were not allowed to display their photos, so
all candidates were banned from using them during the election.
As a result, women accounted for less than 10 per cent of
registered voters and few female candidates were expected to be elected. AFP
reports that of the 1.48 million voters registered for the Dec 12
ballot, 130,637 were women. Saudi Arabia has a population of about 28
million including foreign nationals.
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