Yes, you read that headline right. Saudi women will be allowed to vote and run in the next municipal elections. They will also be appointed to the Shoura Council in its next term. As I said on Twitter yesterday, this is big news for women in Saudi Arabia any way you look at it. You can read more in this blogpost that I wrote on NPR’s The Two-way blog. I have also created a storify to collect the reactions from people that I follow on Twitter that you can read after jump.
An announcement about women driving was what many Saudi women were expecting, so the the news about allowing women to run and vote in municipal elections and serve on the Shoura Council took everyone by surprise. Saudi citizens on Twitter reacted with excitement.
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Women have the right to to Elect , be a candidate and become a member in the Shoura council..#HappiestDayAlive Long live The King! #Saudi |
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Heart is so overwhelmed and full of joy after hearing about King Abdullah’s #Shura decisions. Congrats to all #Saudi women around the world! |
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A scratch in the surface and the best is yet to come! I AM OVERCOME WITH PRIDE! AAAAH! #KingShora |
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Hey, world! I’m a Saudi woman. I can vote! And very soon I’ll be able to drive, too! Wait for it. |
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OMG finally. girls, NOW, not only we can vote we can run in Municipal Elections. Love you so much King AbdulAllah. you truly empower us |
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My love for Abo Met3eb surpasses that of a teenage girl to Justin Bieber ! #FB |
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NSC spokesman: King Abdullah’s reforms recognize significant contributions #Saudi women make to their society. |
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NSC spokesman: we welcome Saudi King announcement that women will serve as full Shura members/participate in municipal elections. #Saudi |
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US National Security Council commenting on Saudi women’s rights- White House Statement on Saudi’s Reforms http://1.usa.gov/nm16ci |
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However, not everyone shared the excitement. They pointed out that women in Saudi Arabia still can’t drive, and they are still under male guardianship rules.
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Dear King Abdullah,Thanks for allowing me to vote, I feel like im human now but.. what about driving?Sincerely,#Saudi #woman2drive #W2D |
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Politics in #Saudi is still an exclusive club.. Congratulations on adding female pawns to the list, though.. Really.. #KingShora |
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Am I supposed to be thrilled that Saudi women will vote in two years but are still under male guardianship? #21stcentury |
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Women’s right to vote and run in an election years away for councils with little or no power. Democratic reform #Saudi style? |
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Saudi women will have to hire drivers to take them to the next meaningless municipal elections. |
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President & members of the #Saudi consultative council don’t represent people because they lack constituencies & mandates! #KingShora |
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Appointing #SaudiWomen to the #Saudi consultative & municipal councils is too little too late!#KingShora#kingspeech |
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We still need full representation in government and in court. Oh, and on the streets. #women2drive |
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This is nice, but don’t get too excited. I would not call this drastic change. We still don’t have a constitution. Or law. :) |
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What did they have to lose by allowing women to drive? Srsly?! No1 dared to do ANYthing to KAUST even tho all the crazies were against it. |
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Will soon be selling t-shirts in #Saudi that read: Other countries went through the Arab Spring and all i got was this crummy voting right |
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But many hoped that this would be an important first step and that more steps will follow soon.
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#KingShora #shoraking the burden of reform 4 women will be top-down rather than bottom-up rendering most of the public rhetoric irrelevant |
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Hopefully, following this decision, all discussions about gender interaction (workplace, cashiers, ..etc.) will become irrelevant #kingshora |
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Today was a great day to be a #Saudi woman. The possibilities by #Kingshora’s speech are exciting. الحمد لله |
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Saudi Jeans 
It’s great, but now we need our right to drive car dear King Abdullah.
This is nothing more than a publicity stunt and an empty promise. What’s the point of elections if there is NO parliament in Saudi Arabia? => http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/women-voting-saudi-arabia/
I write this at the risk of sounding like a pessimist. Does anyone remember when they promised women the vote after the last municipal elections? This is for publicity and it has masked the real priorities for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. What about autonomy under the law? If a woman’s husband or father does not allow her to vote or run for office then what can she do about it? nothing. It is a sad day in Saudi Arabia when this is considered as the ultimate gesture for women’s rights and then a woman is sentenced to lashing for driving a couple of days later.
I too, would like to celebrate this as progress. It’s so hard to do when the right to vote is obviously superceded by the rights of the males that control everything women do. I pray that I am wrong and that this is, indeed, a positive step.
Thanks for this post and your blog in general! great work, I’m a huge fan!
please keep up the great work, and I really hope, my saudi cousins will all go to the polling stations in 2015, and maybe (dare I say it, dare I dream …) drive there themselves!!
huge shout-out from Berlin!