Saudi Arabia elects up to 17 FEMALE councillors in historic election
Saudi Arabia has elected its first female local councillors in a historic step for a country where women are banned from driving and face routine discrimination.
Results from Saturday’s municipal council elections indicated there were about 17 female winners. These included four in Jeddah, one near Mecca – home to Islam’s holiest site – and others in Tabuk, Ahsaa and Qatif. Several more, reported by al-Sabq online newspaper, were expected to be confirmed later.
...
The turnout, estimate to be about 25%, was low, as was registration. Only 1.32 million men and 130,000 women out of a population of 20 million voted – figures that highlight the unfamiliarity of the democratic process of election in the absolute monarchy.
...
Local elections were held in 2005 and 2011, but this was the first time women were allowed to take part. The powers of municipal councils are limited to advising local government and helping oversee budgets, but the election has still been hailed by women activists as a crucial first step towards achieving wider rights and broadening the understanding of civic engagement.
“I don’t consider winning to be the ultimate goal,” said the Riyadh-based historian Hatoon al-Fassi, coordinator for the grassroots Saudi Baladi initiative, which worked to raise voter awareness and increase female participation. “But it is the right of being a citizen that I concentrate on and I consider this a turning point.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/13/saudi-arabia-elects-up-to-17-female-councillors-in-historic-election
= new reply since forum marked as read
Otherwise they have no way to get there. 
... was unable to participate in an international match because her husband refused to give her permission to leave the country.
