abe supercro
Well-Known Member
Let's hear it for Saudi women gaining the right to vote and be elected, it's about time!
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/women-in-saudi-arabia-vote-for-the-first-time.html
Women Vote, Get Elected for the First Time
since the elections only fill two-thirds of the country’s 3,000 or so council seats, it's possible that more women may later be appointed to the remaining seats — which are awarded based on needed expertise. Municipal councils are the only part of the Saudi government that are filled democratically, and the local councils mainly oversee community-level issues.
The opening of elections to women is considered a small but important step in reforming the country’s severe inequality for women, a change that was instituted by the county’s late ruler, King Abdullah, who also added women to an important advisory council in the government. Saudi Arabia is strictly segregated by gender, and women in the kingdom are not allowed to drive and need the official permission of a male guardian, whether a family member or husband, to obtain higher education or travel abroad, among many other things.
Some 1.35 million Saudi men were registered to vote in the elections (but only 44 percent showed up on Saturday) and male candidates outnumbered female candidates six-to-one. Saudi women also had to cast their votes at separate polling stations from men, and female candidates were not allowed to speak directly with male voters, needing either to address them through a partition using a projector and microphone, or to be represented by male surrogate campaigners.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35075702
Saudi Arabia's women vote in election
Media captionWomen are allowed to vote and stand as candidates
Women in Saudi Arabia have cast their first votes in the country's history, in municipal elections.
Women were also standing as candidates, another first, despite the conservative kingdom being the only nation where women are not allowed to drive.
A total of 978 women have registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men.
Female candidates have had to speak behind a partition while campaigning or be represented by a man. Turnout was high, state media reported.
About 130,000 women registered to vote, officials said. That figure still falls well short of male voter registration, which stands at 1.35 million.
Salma al-Rashed was the first woman to register to vote. "It felt really good," she told the BBC. "Change is a big word but the election is the way to make sure we are really represented."
Image captionHatoon al-Fassi describes the election as a 'historical moment'
Elections themselves are a rare thing in the Saudi kingdom - Saturday will be only the third time in history that Saudis have gone to the polls.
There were no elections in the 40 years between 1965 and 2005.
The decision to allow women to take part was taken by the late King Abdullah and is seen as a key part of his legacy.
In announcing the reforms, King Abdullah said women in Saudi Arabia "have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice".
Before he died in January, he appointed 30 women to the country's top advisory Shura Council.
There are 2,100 council seats available in Saturday's vote. An additional 1,050 seats are appointed with approval from the king.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/women-in-saudi-arabia-vote-for-the-first-time.html
Women Vote, Get Elected for the First Time
since the elections only fill two-thirds of the country’s 3,000 or so council seats, it's possible that more women may later be appointed to the remaining seats — which are awarded based on needed expertise. Municipal councils are the only part of the Saudi government that are filled democratically, and the local councils mainly oversee community-level issues.
The opening of elections to women is considered a small but important step in reforming the country’s severe inequality for women, a change that was instituted by the county’s late ruler, King Abdullah, who also added women to an important advisory council in the government. Saudi Arabia is strictly segregated by gender, and women in the kingdom are not allowed to drive and need the official permission of a male guardian, whether a family member or husband, to obtain higher education or travel abroad, among many other things.
Some 1.35 million Saudi men were registered to vote in the elections (but only 44 percent showed up on Saturday) and male candidates outnumbered female candidates six-to-one. Saudi women also had to cast their votes at separate polling stations from men, and female candidates were not allowed to speak directly with male voters, needing either to address them through a partition using a projector and microphone, or to be represented by male surrogate campaigners.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35075702
Saudi Arabia's women vote in election
Media captionWomen are allowed to vote and stand as candidates
Women in Saudi Arabia have cast their first votes in the country's history, in municipal elections.
Women were also standing as candidates, another first, despite the conservative kingdom being the only nation where women are not allowed to drive.
A total of 978 women have registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men.
Female candidates have had to speak behind a partition while campaigning or be represented by a man. Turnout was high, state media reported.
About 130,000 women registered to vote, officials said. That figure still falls well short of male voter registration, which stands at 1.35 million.
Salma al-Rashed was the first woman to register to vote. "It felt really good," she told the BBC. "Change is a big word but the election is the way to make sure we are really represented."
Image captionHatoon al-Fassi describes the election as a 'historical moment'
Elections themselves are a rare thing in the Saudi kingdom - Saturday will be only the third time in history that Saudis have gone to the polls.
There were no elections in the 40 years between 1965 and 2005.
The decision to allow women to take part was taken by the late King Abdullah and is seen as a key part of his legacy.
In announcing the reforms, King Abdullah said women in Saudi Arabia "have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice".
Before he died in January, he appointed 30 women to the country's top advisory Shura Council.
There are 2,100 council seats available in Saturday's vote. An additional 1,050 seats are appointed with approval from the king.
