First women to stand for election in Saudi Arabia
Their election leaflets cannot contain photographs, and they are not allowed to address men directly at campaign meetings.
But in a breakthrough moment for Saudi Arabia, a country known neither for voting nor for female emancipation, the names of the first women to nominate themselves as election candidates have been published.
The elections for local councils next month are the third in the nation's modern history, but the first in which women will be allowed both to vote and to stand, under a decree by the late King Abdullah.
Their duties should they win will be the mundane tasks of councillors everywhere, such as supervising road maintenance. But the opportunity has been seized by some of the country's most prominent women's rights activists, as well by others who see themselves as apolitical but who want to improve their local communities. More than 1,000 women have submitted their names across the country, far more than many expected.
Opinions:
It is good to see so many woman taking advantage of their new suffrage- and even greater to see that so many have put themselves forward as candidates. Though it is only for local council positions these are important steps for a non-democratic country and perhaps can usher forward even more contemporary thinking within the country.
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