2011 and since then, 900 female political candidates stood alongside the nearly 6000 male political candidates. More than 130,000 women had registered to vote in their local municipal elections all across Saudi.
A special thank you to our late father, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for believing in women ❤️#saudiwomenvote #saudielection
— Amal (@Lulu_Faisal) December 12, 2015
Although the countries gender divide has been narrowed and the right to vote granted, less than 10 percent (130,000) of registered voters are women which is very much needed considering the 900 women candidates as compared to the 1.38 million men registered and 6000 men candidates-all vying for approximately 2,100 council seats + an additional 1,050 seats appointed by the king.
Despite the kings ruling, men are not as happy as are the women of Saudi. This is a culture shock within the culture-a culture that, since the beginning of its time, done things (like such) without women, for so long.
That being the case, unfortunately, despite their right to vote, their narrow gender segregation laws wasn’t apart of the deal of the kings rule, so campaigning has proved to be challenging as women still have to rely on men to drive them to the polling stations and too, are not allowed to directly address male voters at rallies.
Daily Mail reports:
All major decision-making powers rest solely in the hands of King Salman and the all-male Cabinet of ministers.
Not only have legal barriers made campaigning difficult, the women have also had to battle conservative male voters, who oppose women’s participation in mixed society.
Abdullah Al-Maiteb made his way into a polling station in the capital Riyadh this morning, expressing a widely held sentiment about why women shouldn’t be on the ballot:
‘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?’
It’s the third time in recent decades that Saudi men have been allowed to vote. The first local council election was held in 2005 and the second in 2011, with only men taking part.
On the bright side, general coordinator for the grassroots Saudi Baladi Initiative Hatoon Al-Fassi (pictured here), worked closely with the women to raise both-voter awareness and female participation for the election explained: “I don’t consider winning to be the ultimate goal … but it is the right of being a citizen that I concentrate on and I consider this a turning point. We are looking at it as an opportunity to exercise our right and to push for more.”
Despite challenges and obstacles in getting to the polls, even Uber is
