Saudi Arabia Makes Landmark Annoucment

It’s the start of a new era in Saudi Arabia. Reformist King Abdullah has announced that women will be given the right to vote and to run in future municipal elections as soon as this Thursday.

They will also be given the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council. Right now, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive or to leave the country unaccompanied. Activists had been campaigning over such issues for twenty years and more than welcomed the announcement. 

The royal family and the conservative clerics continue to resist change and liberalization is still very gradual in the Kingdom.

Municipal elections are the only public polls in Saudi Arabia.

More than five thousand men will compete in Thursday’s municipal elections to fill half the seats in the local councils. 

The next elections are due in another four years’ time.