LET WOMEN DRIVE
must “apply and adhere to the necessary syariah standards”.
It gave no details, but said a majority of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, Saudi Arabia’s top clerical body, had approved its permissibility.
An hour after the official announcement in Saudi Arabia, a jubilant Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Khaled Salman, said it was “a historic and big day in our kingdom”.
“I think our leadership understands that our society is ready.
“I think it’s the right decision at the right time.”
Positive reactions quickly poured in from inside the kingdom and around the world.
The United States State Department welcomed the move as “a great step in the right direction”. President Donald Trump commended the decision, the White House said in a separate statement that pledged US support for a plan the kingdom announced last year for economic and social reforms.
“This is a positive step towards promoting the rights and opportunities of women in Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.
For more than 25 years, women activists have campaigned to be allowed to drive, defiantly taking to the road, petitioning the king and posting videos of themselves behind the wheel on social media. The protests brought them arrest and harassment.
Activist Manal al-Sherif, who was arrested in 2011 after a driving protest, took to Twitter following the king’s announcement to express her relief.
“Today, the last country on earth to allow women to drive... we did it,” she wrote.
Latifa al-Shaalan, a member of the Shura Council, an advisory body, said the decision would strengthen women’s employment in the private sector.
“This is an historic day and I cannot find the words to express my feelings and the feelings of thousands of Saudi women,” she said on Arabiya TV.
In Saudi Arabia, women are legally subject to a male guardian, who must give approval to basic decisions they make in fields including education, employment, marriage, travel plans and even medical treatment.
Prince Khaled said women would not need permission from their guardians to get a licence or have a guardian in the car and would be allowed to drive anywhere, including the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Reuters