Saudi Arabian women will vote for the first time, but in a country where they must seek male permission to work, study, travel, marry or even access healthcare, scepticism remains over the significance of the apparent reform.
A total of 978 women will stand alongside 5,938 men in the 2,100 seats available in local municipal councils on Saturday.
Of 2o million saudi citizens, candidate must completes must complete for the ballots of 1.35m registered male voters, against just 130,000 women, with the odds stacked against those few women standing.
In accordance with the Kingdom’s strict laws, female candidates have been unable to address male candidates and in public must speak from behind a screen. Voters are segregated, with those women who have registered driven to and from their polling station.
The Kingdom remains the only country in the world where women are unable to drive.
Source:Times of India