Saudi women given right to vote

JEDDAH, (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will allow women to  stand for election and vote, the king announced today, in a  significant policy shift in the conservative Islamic kingdowm.   
 In a five-minute speech, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud  said women will also take part in the next session of the  unelected, advisory Shura Council, which vets legislation but  has no binding powers.   
 “Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all  roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after  deliberation with our senior ulama (clerics) and others… to  involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from the  next term,” he said in a speech delivered to the advisory body.   
 “Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal  election and will even have a right to vote.”   
 Women’s rights are regarded as a litmus test for the  government’s appetite for social and political reform. Saudi  Arabia adheres to a strict version of Islamic law that enforces  the segregation of the sexes.   
 “This is great news,” said Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi  writer and women’s rights activist. “Women’s voices will finally  be heard.    
 “Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing  women to drive cars and not being able to function, to live a  normal life without male guardians.”   
 The king did not address the issue of women being allowed to  drive. Although there is no written law against women driving,  they are not issued licences, effectively banning the practice.    
 Women in Saudi Arabia must also have written approval from a  male guardian — a father, husband, brother or son — to leave  the country, work or even undergo certain medical operations.    
 After entering the Shura Council chamber leaning heavily on  a cane, King Abdullah, who is thought to be 87 or 88, read only  a section of a longer prepared statement that was later released  in full by the authorities.    
 The part he did not read included reference to Saudi foreign  policy including the kingdom’s continued support for a  Gulf-brokered plan for a power transition in Yemen.   
    
 SEEKING CHANGE   
 King Abdullah has long been pushing cautious political  reforms, but in a country where conservative clerics and senior  members of the ruling family oppose even minor changes,  liberalisation has been very gradual.   
 He built a new university for students of both sexes and  encouraged women to participate more in the labour market.    
 Despite calls on social media for widespread protests in  Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests in  the Middle East and north Africa, the only noteworthy  demonstrations were confined to the country’s Eastern Province,  which is home to the country’s Shi’ite minority.    
 Activists in the country have long called for greater rights  for women. Ruled by an absolute monarchy supported by  conservative Wahhabi clerics, Saudi Arabia is a conservative  country where religious police patrol the streets to ensure  public segregation between men and women.   
 A campaign this summer by women who broke Saudi law by  driving on the kingdom’s city streets prompted some arrests.    
 Saudi Arabia will hold only its second nationwide elections  in recent memory on Thursday for seats on municipal councils,  but critics of the ruling al-Saud family say the poll, in which  voting is limited to men, is a charade.    
 Supporters of the absolute monarchy say the elections are  designed to give Saudis a greater say in politics, but critics  point out that the elections are for only half the seats on  councils that have few powers.    
 The Shura Council, which vets legislation but cannot veto it  or enforce changes, is fully appointed by the king.   
 “Despite the issue of the effectiveness of these councils,  women’s involvement in them was necessary. Maybe after women  join there will be other changes,” said Naila Attar, who  organized a campaign Baladi (Arabic for My Country) calling for  women’s involvement in the municipal council elections.   
 “I believe this is a step to involve women in the public  sphere. It is the top of the pyramid and a step in the direction  for more decisions regarding women.”