Saudi women given right to vote, stand for election

"We refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with sharia," King Abdullah says after speaking to clerics.

By REUTERS
hijab cairo women arab 311 (photo credit: Ruth Eglash)
hijab cairo women arab 311
(photo credit: Ruth Eglash)
JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia will allow women to stand for election and vote, Saudi King Abdullah announced on Sunday, in a significant policy shift in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
In a five-minute speech,  the king said women will also take part in the next session of the unelected, advisory Shura Council, which vets legislation but has no binding powers.
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"Because we refuse to marginalize 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,"  he added.
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," she added.
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 licenses, 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.