Women in Saudi Arabia participated in elections as both voters and candidates for the first time Saturday, in a step toward a more equal role for women in the sharply gender-segregated society.

About 130,000 women have registered to vote in the municipal council elections, as compared to 1.35 million men.



As for candidates, there are 978 women and 5,938 men running for 2,100 seats. The king will appoint 1,050 additional seats.

Women and men must vote at separate polling stations. Women candidates can't address men directly, so have had to speak through male relatives or supporters, or speak from behind a petition and rely on projectors and microphones.

Uber is offering free rides for women to the polls on Saturday, since Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which doesn't allow women to drive. The service is offered as a joint effort with the Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi women's empowerment group.


Amal Badreldin al-Sawari waves after casting her ballot in Riyadh, on Dec. 12, 2015.
IMAGE: AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE
Municipal council elections are the only type of elections in which Saudi citizens can directly elect their representatives, and they're quite rare. There have only been two other such elections — in 2005 and 2011 — and only men took part previously.

Saudi academic and women's rights campaigner Hatoon al-Fassi was driven to her women-only polling station in Riyadh on Saturday. She was there right when it opened at 8:00 a.m. local time.

"It feels great," she told the BBC. "This is a historical moment. I thank God I am living it."

She said that it didn't really matter how many women got elected; just the fact they had the election was meaningful.

Many men in Saudi Arabia don't view it the same way though, and there is a deeply held belief that women should stay out of public life. As one man, Abdullah Al-Maiteb, went to the polls in Riyadh, he told the Associated Press that women should stay at home.

"Her role is not in such places. Her role is at home managing the house and raising a new generation," he said. "If we allow her out of the house to do such business, who is going to take care of my sons?"

Municipal councils oversee community issues but don't have legislative powers. King Salman and his all-male Cabinet of ministers hold the decision-making power in the country.

The late King Abdullah, who died in January, made the decision to let women take part in the elections. He said women in Saudi Arabia "have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice."

The election results will be announced later Saturday.

Source :http://mashable.com/2015/12/12/saudi-arabia-women-elections/#_EE1zyWIhiq9

Seun and lalasticlala what do you guys think of this?

Allahu Akbar, even Saudi Arabia too dey feel CHANGE.

Finally!!

Maybe they can stop the male guardianship too, a woman should not need permission from a man to open a bank account.