Editing Women's suffrage (section)

==== Saudi Arabia ====
In late September 2011, [[King of Saudi Arabia|King]] [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud]] declared that women would be able to vote and run for office [[2015 Saudi Arabian municipal elections|starting in 2015]]. That applies to the municipal councils, which are the kingdom's only semi-elected bodies. Half of the seats on municipal councils are elective, and the councils have few powers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al Haydar |first1=Tariq |title=In Saudi Arabia, a Quiet Step Forward for Women |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/in-saudi-arabia-a-quiet-step-forward-for-women/247351/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |date=26 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028144843/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/in-saudi-arabia-a-quiet-step-forward-for-women/247351/ |archive-date=28 October 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The council elections have been held since 2005 (the first time they were held before that was the 1960s).<ref name="Reu01">{{cite news |last1=Alsharif |first1=Asma |title=UPDATE 2-Saudi king gives women right to vote |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-king-women-idUSL5E7KP0IB20110925 |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 January 2024 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=25 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313142625/https://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-king-women-idUSL5E7KP0IB20110925/ |archive-date=13 March 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/saudi-king-women-given-right-to-vote-for-first-time-in-2015-nationwide-local-elections/2011/09/25/gIQAt4wwvK_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215030318/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/saudi-king-women-given-right-to-vote-for-first-time-in-2015-nationwide-local-elections/2011/09/25/gIQAt4wwvK_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 15, 2018 |title=Saudi monarch grants kingdom's women right to vote, but driving ban remains in force |newspaper=The Washington Post }}</ref> Saudi women did first vote and first run for office in December 2015, for those councils.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/12/12/saudi-women-vote-for-the-first-time-in-landmark-election|title=Saudi women vote for the first time, testing boundaries |work=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref> [[Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi]] became the first elected female politician in Saudi Arabia in December 2015, when she won a seat on the council in Madrakah in Mecca province.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35086357|title=Saudi Arabia: First women councillors elected|newspaper=BBC News|date=December 1, 2015}}</ref> In all, the December 2015 election in Saudi Arabia resulted in twenty women being elected to municipal councils.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/saudi-voters-elect-20-women-candidates-for-the-first-time/|title=Saudi voters elect 20 women candidates for the first time|work=Fox News}}</ref>

The king declared in 2011 that women would be eligible to be appointed to the [[Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia|Shura Council]], an unelected body that issues advisory opinions on national policy.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15052030 "Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections"], BBC, September 25, 2011</ref> {{'"}}This is great news," said Saudi writer and women's rights activist [[Wajeha al-Huwaider]]. "Women's voices will finally be heard. Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing [[Women to drive movement|women to drive]] cars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians.{{"'}} [[Robert Lacey]], author of two books about the kingdom, said, "This is the first positive, progressive speech out of the government since the [[Arab Spring]].... First the warnings, then the payments, now the beginnings of solid reform." The king made the announcement in a five-minute speech to the Shura Council.<ref name="Reu01"/> In January 2013, [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|King Abdullah]] issued two royal decrees, granting women thirty seats on the council, and stating that women must always hold at least a fifth of the seats on the council.<ref name="foxnews1">{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/saudi-king-grants-women-seats-on-advisory-council-for-1st-time/|title=Saudi king grants women seats on advisory council for 1st time|work=Fox News|date=May 14, 2012|access-date=January 12, 2013}}</ref> According to the decrees, the female council members must be "committed to Islamic Shariah disciplines without any violations" and be "restrained by the religious veil".<ref name="foxnews1"/> The decrees also said that the female council members would be entering the council building from special gates, sit in seats reserved for women and pray in special worshipping places.<ref name="foxnews1"/> Earlier, officials said that a screen would separate genders and an internal communications network would allow men and women to communicate.<ref name="foxnews1"/> Women first joined the council in 2013, holding a total of thirty seats.<ref name="saudigazette1">{{cite news|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130225154468 |title=Women on 3 Shoura panels |newspaper=Saudi Gazette |date=February 25, 2013 |access-date=April 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218023529/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130225154468 |archive-date=February 18, 2015 }}</ref><ref name=mul23feb>{{cite news|last=Al Mulhim|first=Abdulateef|title=Saudi Stability and Royal Succession|url=http://www.grc.net/?Search=&frm_title=&frm_action=detail_book&frm_module=contents&frm_researchprogramid=77&p_id=&sec=Research+Programs&book_id=80338&frm_pageno=&sec_type=d&isgrc=&frm_type_id=&override=Research+Program+Detail+%3E+Saudi+Stability+and+Royal+Succession&op_lang=en|access-date=April 12, 2013|newspaper=Arab News|date=February 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104203009/http://www.grc.net/?Search=&frm_title=&frm_action=detail_book&frm_module=contents&frm_researchprogramid=77&p_id=&sec=Research+Programs&book_id=80338&frm_pageno=&sec_type=d&isgrc=&frm_type_id=&override=Research+Program+Detail+%3E+Saudi+Stability+and+Royal+Succession&op_lang=en|archive-date=January 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are two Saudi royal women among these thirty female members of the assembly, [[Sara bint Faisal Al Saud]] and [[Moudi bint Khalid Al Saud]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Breakthrough in Saudi Arabia: women allowed in parliament|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/11/259881.html|access-date=August 11, 2013|newspaper=Al Arabiya|date=January 11, 2013}}</ref> Furthermore, in 2013 three women were named as deputy chairpersons of three committees: Thurayya Obeid was named deputy chairwoman of the human rights and petitions committee, Zainab Abu Talib, deputy chairwoman of the information and cultural committee, and Lubna Al Ansari, deputy chairwoman of the health affairs and environment committee.<ref name="saudigazette1"/>