At least five Saudi women have gained 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 multicultural 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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