At least 19 Saudi women have secured seats in the historic municipal election in the country that saw the participation of female voters and candidates for the first time.
among the female winners were both nationally prominent women as well as the lesser known candidates.
Huda al-Jeraisy, one of the two women who won in the Seventh District of northern Riyadh, said that her victory was a result of her work which is not focused on her ‘personal gain’.
She said that she knew how to deal with her male counterparts in a logical way, adding that she never gets into clashes with them.
Nora Alkhaldi, a 34-years-old voter, said that if a girl’s father has contacts in the business world, then she has a lot of opportunities in her country.
This election was the first in Saudi Arabia that saw the participation of women and many have portrayed it as a progressive step towards democracy and gender equality.
Saudi Arabia is the only country that bans women from driving and requires its female citizens to provide a male guardian’s approval for such basic matters as traveling, working and studying.
