Initial Results Show First Female Politicians Elected In Saudi Arabia
Initial Results Show First Female Politicians Elected In Saudi ArabiaRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- At least five Saudi women have won seats on local municipal councils a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history, according to initial results released Sunday.
The five women hail from vastly different parts of the country, ranging from Saudi Arabia's second largest and most cosmopolitan city to a small village near Islam's holiest sites.
Though not many women are expected to win seats, even limited gains are seen as a step forward for women who had previously been completely shut out of elections.
The mayor of Mecca, Osama al-Bar, told The Associated Press on Sunday that candidate Salma al-Oteibi won in a village called Madrakah, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of the city which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which Muslims around the world pray.
Al-Bar also confirmed through election officials in Saudi Arabia's second largest city of Jiddah that another female candidate, Lama al-Suleiman, had won a seat there.
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