Women in Saudi Arabia Politics

Saudi Arabia is the name of the strictest country for women. Women have only minimum rights here. But with the advancement of women from all over the world Saudi women are also forwarding their steps. They are now also very much concerned about their rights and duties to the country. 

11 January, 2013 was one of the greatest days for the Saudi women. King Abdullah is well-known for his relatively moderate views on women’s roles in society and politics. In 2011, he announced that women would be appointed to the Shura Council and that women would also be able to run and vote in the country’s 2015 municipal elections. He is on his words. On 11 January 2013, Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz issued a historic decree by allowing the Saudi women to be the members of the Kingdom’s Shura Council for the first time in Saudi history which was previously an all-male council. The decree amended the council’s law to ensure that women would make up no less than 20 percent of the country’s 150-members council going forward. The king appointed 30 women to join the consultative assembly. So, Saudi Arabian women have political rights now. 

The decree was welcomed by all the women of Saudi Arabia. Saudi women’s rights advocate and one of the new Shura Council’s members, Thuraya Arrayed said in her interview to Al Arabiya News that the decree would give confidence to women to take part in important decision-making matters in the country.

She also said that they were not there to represent themselves but to represent the public and women and men alike. She expected that the decision would open the doors for qualified women to take part in all fields and not just in politics but in all areas. 

The absence of women in the past from the Saudi’s Shura Council made the Saudi people unaware about the particular viewpoint to women because there was no one else who introduced with women’s lives and their problems or the critical situations. Only a woman can understand the women’s problems and sufferings. So, the new decision, the appointment of Saudi women to Shura Council, is the best thing that ever happened to Saudi women’s history. Now, the female members of the council should try to change the image of women in Saudi society. They should try to make the women aware about their rights and responsibilities.