Saudi women make electoral breakthrough

[emad]

Brian Whitaker and agencies in Riyadh
Thursday December 1, 2005
The Guardian


Two candidates became the first women to win elected office in Saudi Arabia yesterday when they took seats on the board of Jeddah's chamber of commerce.

In a country where women are generally excluded from public life the surprise result was viewed as significant. When the conservative kingdom held local government elections earlier this year - the first in more than half a century - women were not allowed to vote or run for office.

"I'm a bit in shock, but this shows people are ready for women to play a role," Lama Sulaiman, one of the winners, told Reuters. She and fellow-businesswoman Nashwa Taher will join 10 elected men on the board, along with six other people to be appointed by the government.
Some 21,000 members of the chamber were entitled to vote, with a choice of 71 candidates - 17 of whom were women. Voting was spread over four days and, in accordance with the Saudi tradition of segregating the sexes, the first two days were reserved for female voters.

It became clear yesterday that the women, who both secured more than 1,000 votes, had been elected mainly through male support. About 100 women voted, compared with around 4,000 men.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,11599,1654692,00.html

[cantstandbush]

1. Just think, for over thirty years women in Iraq could do this. n/t

[I Have A Dream]

2. It's a good thing, but it's really sad that they have so far to go. n/t