Break-through in Saudi Arabia: women allowed in parliament

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia issued Friday a historic decree allowing women to be members of the kingdom’s all-male Shura Council for the first time.
The decree amended two article in the council’s statute introducing a 20 percent quota for women in the country’s 150-member Shura Council, and the king appointed 30 women to join the consultative assembly.
The assembly, whose members are appointed by the king, works as the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It can propose draft laws following which it would present them to the king, who, in turn, would either pass or reject them.
Saudi Arabia is known for its conservative culture where women are not allowed to drive despite the absence of a law saying so.
King Abdullah has introduced cautious economic and social reforms aimed at reconciling Saudi Arabia’s religious traditions with the needs of a modern economy and youthful population.
Thuraya al-Arrayed, an education specialist, who was appointed by the king as a Shura Council member told Al Arabiya that the royal decree “gave confidence to women to take part in important decision-making matters in the country.”
“It is an opportunity given to us, and I expect this experience to succeed. They are all qualified women,” she said.
“We are not here to represent ourselves but to represent the public, women and men alike.”
“I expect this decision to open doors for qualified women to take part in all fields and not just in politics but in all areas,” al-Arrayed said.
Translation of the two amendments to the Saudi Shura Council statute.