MUSCAT Two women were elected out of 83 seats contested in the first direct election to an advisory council in the conservative Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman, the Interior Ministry announced Friday.
Businesswoman Lujaina Mohsin Haider Darwish and Rahila al-Riyami, Education Ministry planning director, both won seats in and around the relatively liberal Omani capital of Muscat in Thursday's polls.
The tally matched the two seats won by women in each of the past two elections to the Majlis Al-Shura, or consultative council.
A rarity in the Persian Gulf Arab monarchies, women were given the vote in Oman in 1994.
"It's a beginning. We are still a very conservative society," Darwish told AFP, adding that she would concentrate on jobs and education for women.
The council, founded in 1991, has no say on defense, internal security or foreign policy nor the power to block proposed legislation, only an advisory role, mainly on the economy, and the right to question ministers.
Darwish played down criticism that the council had no teeth.
"Everything has to take time. These are issues pertaining to people and government. The council has its powers, however limited," the 31-year-old businesswoman insisted.
An expanded electoral college of about 114,000, compared to only 51,000 in the last ballot of 1997, was registered to elect the council for its fourth three-year term.
Twenty-one women candidates were among a field of almost 550 runners, while a president of the council is appointed by Oman's veteran ruler, Sultan Qaboos.
Apart from widening the voter base in Oman, where only about 600,000 people are over the voting age of 21, a 30 percent share of participation was this time fixed for women, which still however left the balance in men's favour.