RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Saudi authorities monitoring the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce polls said Sunday they banned businesswomen from running in the board elections.
An official from the Jeddah chamber in western Saudi Arabia said the nominations for board of directors closed Saturday "without accepting the nomination of any of the eight businesswomen seeking election."
The eight women had applied for nomination for the first time in the conservative Islamic kingdom for public business positions.
The official said, however, the women members in the Chamber of Commerce will be able to vote directly without authorizing men to do so on their behalf.
Saudi authorities banned women from running and voting in the oil-rich country's first municipal elections last year.
Senior officials, however, promised women participation in the next municipal polls due in 2009.
