Historic poll sees first Saudi women elected

Saudi Arabia has elected at least 10 female politicians in municipal polls in an historic event that saw women allowed to vote and stand for office.

The state news agency reported that Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi won a seat on the municipal council in the holy city of Mecca in Saturday’s elections. Others won in Jawf and Tabuk.

The landmark polls mark a small step towards redressing gender imbalances in the Gulf monarchy, in which the ruling house of al-Saud seeks to balance rising calls for change from its large population of young people with the demands of conservative clerics opposed to social easing.

Only 1.3 million men and 130,000 women registered to vote in the polls for seats on councils that have limited powers over local planning and spending.

Officials said four to five million of the country’s 20 million population were eligible to vote. Jadea al-Qahtani, the official spokesman for the municipal elections, described this as a “reasonable proportion”, noting that local elections around the world rarely generated a large turnout.

Playing down complaints that some female activists had been barred, Mr Qahtani said of 6,914 prospective candidates, only 235 were rejected, nine of whom were women.

Window dressing

Activists, who have retreated from public protest amid a government crackdown on dissent, say the elections are window-dressing around a failure to tackle the real issues of female empowerment, such as freeing them from the strictures of male guardianship.

The 979 female candidates faced challenges in the campaign. They were unable to talk face-to-face with men, addressing them from behind closed doors. A video circulating on social media showed men defacing a female candidate’s election billboard because of her gender.

“I voted for a woman,” said Ruba Alrabhan, a lecturer in business administration at Princess Noura University. “I didn’t know too much about her programme, I just want a woman to win as this will be good for our society.”

Female participation in the elections was announced by the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in 2011 as the Middle East was rocked by the unrest of the Arab uprisings. Two earlier rounds of municipal polls had been male-only events.

Voters said it was encouraging that King Salman, who took over on Abdullah's death in January, kept to his predecessor's commitment to cautious reform on women's rights.

However, in a society with an embedded patriarchal tradition, many women voted for male candidates. Wujood Saleh (27), a housewife, who voted in the Al-Sahafa district of northern Riyadh said men would deliver better results on core issues such as road congestion and poor clinics.

‘What’s the point?’

Another voter at the King Salman Social Centre, financial adviser Adnan al-Romaihi, said strong, professional candidates were needed to hold local officials to account.

Others rejected the process. “What’s the point,” said Abu Abdulaziz, a taxi driver. “Elections will mean politicians and sects take over – the Saudi people don’t concern themselves with politics, just the economy.”

As oil prices have halved, officials say the government has pared back expected spending this year by $80 billion, cutting into the largesse dispensed by the authorities in the aftermath of 2011.

The ruling family has previously sought to retain the people’s loyalty in return for generous welfare programmes. Radical subsidy reforms and privatisation programmes set for next year threaten to alter the relationship between the rulers and the ruled.

As such, Saturday’s elections provide a pointer towards broader public consultation amid calls by some for more representation and official accountability. But the new king has yet to signal any intention to further decentralise power and broaden popular participation.

Nonetheless, said businessman Mohammed bin Madshoush: “This is a great step. I’d like to see freedom in our lives – an elected parliament is important to represent the people. This is a country that can change.”

– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015)