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?

I

Try and rearrange it for easy reading

"Sauce" SR. OK wait make I confirm from other sources.

The cost is the issue, why would I as a Nigerian go for Xperia when I can get same spec with infinix for half of the price? We don't generally value brand in the country

This shows that our democracy is maturing fast. Good one!

@Op, nice one but affordability is the issue. With the peanut Nigerian Nurses are paid, USA online education doesn't come cheap. Nice blog, I have a forum for all nurses tag http://nursesarena.com

APC=Scam!

Ok

The government is just making this guy popular

For real?

Chanji!

Really?

Ok

OK.

Where are we going in this country?

Ok

Ah

Good one from the best governor in this democratic dispensation.

Following

Eeya sorry o

Ok

@Op, seems you are no longer updating your website. I created http://Nursesarena.com last year to serve as a forum for all African nurses and the response from nurses has been encouraging. You really need to work on hard as something good doesn't come that easy. You can pm me if you need advice on how to resurrect your site

Mourinho the mouthed one

Ok

With the appointment of Ministers, I believe the economic direction of the government is going to be spelt out soon which will boast investors' confidence. Nigeria's morning is near when joy cometh so just chill.

APC will be doing disservice to this nation if they keep on fielding people of questionable characters all in the bid of clinching power at all cost.

Good one

Cool facts.

I think that's better

Is this for real?

18 hours?