Saudi Arabia Agrees Women to Drive

RIYADH:
Saudi Arabia finally lifts restrictions on women driving allowing almost half its population to get behind the wheel.
The Saudi Foreign ministry said on its official Twitter account that a royal decree has been issued that will allow women in the country to drive. A committee which has been formed to implement the ruling will present recommendations within 30 days. Then the government will have until June 24, 2018, to implement the new decree.
Prince Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, said that this is a historic big day in our Kingdom. State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said that the US would certainly welcome the news.
The move to ease restrictions on women has huge implications for the Saudi economy and women’s ability to work. This is the latest change of the series been brought through Saudi Arabia since the rise of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The crown prince, is spearheading an ambitious plan to reform and transform the Saudi economy by 2030 and, in line with that goal, increase the number of women in the workforce.
The crown prince, who was appointed by his father to the position in June, is seen as a major power in the country and is expected by many to be named king before too long.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia follows a strict form of Wahhabi Islam that bans the mixing of sexes at public events and places numerous curbs on women. These restrictions are enforced by religious police whose powers the crown prince has successfully lobbied to curtail since coming to power.
Women were allowed to enter a sports stadium for the first time on September 23, for a special pageant.
In May, King Salman decreed that government agencies should list services women can seek without permission from their husbands, fathers or other male guardian. He also ordered organizations to provide transportation for female employees — a step that eased one hurdle to women’s employment given that public transportation is virtually non-existent.