Saudi women to be given right to drive

King Salman. Photo: Getty Images
King Salman. Photo: Getty Images
Saudi King Salman has ordered that women be allowed to drive cars, state media said, ending the conservative Islamic kingdom's status as the only country where that is forbidden.

The royal decree ordered the formation of a ministerial body to give advice within 30 days and then implement the order by June 2018, according to state news agency SPA.

It stipulated that the move must "apply and adhere to the necessary Sharia standards", without providing details, and said a majority of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars had approved its permissibility.

Saudi Arabia has been widely criticised for being the only country in the world that bans women from driving, despite ambitious government targets to increase their public role, especially in the workforce.

Women in the kingdom are also bound by law to wear long robes and a headscarf and require the consent of a male guardian for most legal actions.

The kingdom has been opening more areas for women through the government's modernising reforms, which have sparked tensions with influential clerics upon whose support the ruling family relies. 

The United States on Tuesday welcomed King Salman's order.

"We would certainly welcome that," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. "It's a great step in the right direction for that country." 

VISION FOR SAUDI ARABIA

At the weekend, Saudi Arabia celebrated the 87th anniversary of its founding with an unprecedented array of concerts and performances, including allowing women into King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh for a Saturday evening operetta - a first in the conservative Islamic kingdom.

The festivities were part of a government bid to boost national pride and improve the quality of life for Saudis.

The events were the latest entertainment sponsored by the government as part of the Vision 2030 reform programme launched two years ago to diversify the economy away from oil, create whole new sectors to employ young citizens and open up Saudis' cloistered lifestyles.

However in a country that adheres to the austere Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam, which bans gender mixing, concerts and cinemas, the plan's seemingly anodyne goals to empower women, promote sports and invest in entertainment have been criticised.

Saudi rulers are also starting to reform areas once the exclusive domain of the clergy, such as education and the law, and have promoted elements of national identity that have no religious component, or pre-date Islam.

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