Saudi Arabia — is the change enough?

Some glimmers of hope regarding women’s rights in Saudi Arabia appeared last week when King Abdullah decreed that women would finally be allowed to vote. But upon careful reading, this ‘law’ may well be a mirage. First the voting allowance does not come into force for at least another three years and this will only apply to local government elections. Furthermore, such elections are of little consequence in a monarchy where absolute power of veto resides with the king. Saudi women are still subject to arcane ‘guardianship’ rules at the behest of a primordial view of Islamic law. Due to this, they cannot travel, open a bank account, or visit a doctor without being accompanied by a male relative. Only a few days after this supposed modernisation, a woman was ordered 10 lashes for driving!

For decades, the Saudi elite who can be found carousing around Fifth Avenue in New York, have said that “they need time” and cultures must change with ‘caution’. This argument is now stale and sickening. The only way to change moribund traditionalism is to confront it directly since the conservative establishment does not have any allowance for change or development. Recall the only real change in Saudi laws occurred when the late King Faisal directly decreed that women could attend school. He refused to buckle under the extreme views of the clerics and perhaps was assassinated as a result (though the conditions and causes of his assassination are still shrouded in mystery). Thanks to King Faisal, Saudi women can at least attend school!

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