Saudi female candidates running for municipal councils have begun campaigning in elections, marking the first time women are allowed to vote and contest polls in the kingdom. Around 865 women are among 6,140 Saudis standing in the local elections due to be held on December 12, according to official figures. Two thirds of seats at the kingdom’s 284 councils are up for grabs. The other third of members will be appointed by the government.  Women’s participation in the polls, the third of their kind in the oil-rich Gulf country, was decreed in 2011 by the-then King Abdullah. The monarch, who died in January, had also ordered that 20 per cent of members of the kingdom’s quasi-parliament, the Shura Council, be females.

Women standing for municipal councils are prohibited from holding rallies attended by men. Contenders from both sexes are also barred from displaying their pictures in public during the 12-day campaigning. The restrictions are expected to prompt contestants, mainly women, to rely on social media to reach potential voters. The country’s first municipal elections were held in 2005, followed by another vote in 2011. In both cases, only men were allowed to participate.

Did You Know???

• Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to the religion’s holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina.
• The Saudi king’s official title is “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been king since January 2015.
• It is illegal in Saudi Arabia to practice any form of sorcery or magic.
• The title of “World’s Tallest Building” has a history of being passionately sought. In 2018, that title will belong to Kingdom Tower, the centerpiece of a new city being built on Saudi Arabia’s coast.
• Until 2011, Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world to deny votes to women (except Brunei, where they deny votes to everyone).
• Saudi Arabia’s Arabic name is Al-Mamlakah al-Arabiyah as-Sa’udiyah, or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.