Lateefa al-Geeod has become the first woman elected to parliament in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain this week, a country in which women only won the right to vote in 2001. Al-Geeod registered to run for the seat and officially won after registration closed on Tuesday and she remained without opposition, according to the Khaleej Times. In the 2002 municipal and parliamentary elections, 31 women ran for positions but failed to be elected. In upper parliament, six women hold appointed positions.
“I am very proud as a Bahraini woman to reach this point, and I hope more than one female candidate reaches the parliament,” said al-Geeod, according the the Associated Press. Al-Geeod currently works at the Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and holds a Master’s degree in financial management. She says that she is focused on the “economy, unemployment and discrimination against women in the management field,” reports the Associated Press.
