Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz gives women right to vote

Post Reply New Topic

http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actua ... ht-to-vote

At last :-/

maybe one day those votes will actually mean something

Hurray. Took a while but it's a step in the right direction, I think.

He's learning from what's happening in the other Arab countries.

whoo hoo

can "vote" but still not allowed to drive

Hey, could be next.... They could vote to be allowed to drive.

So, how are American conservatives taking this?

There is an important word in the thread title: "gives."

Giving women the right to vote is a very different thing than recognizing that women are inherently possessed of that right. So while congratulations are in order for Saudi Arabia finally reaching the twentieth century (only one more century to go!) we should not lose sight of the larger picture of one of world's last remaining absolute monarchies.

Curiously, there is no law against women driving in Saudi Arabia. The government will not issue licenses, but in theory if a woman holds an international driving permit and a valid and subsisting from the contracting state that issued the permit, she would be authorized to drive in KSA. I think this is the basis on which some of the women's driving protests have taken place in KSA. Of course, a legal theory is only as good as the recognition and enforcement of it.

Still, those points notwithstanding, let's accept half a loaf, and continue to press.

Welcome to the 17th century, Saudi Arabia!

That king will be sorry.

Happy now, panda, that you've gotten the opinion of a hate filled conservative?

Voting is not a natural right. It is a legal, societal or conventional right.

ruveyn

As these "votes" hold no weight under an absolute monarchy, what's the point?
He has basically allowed women to state their non-binding opinions, provided they can find a male relative to lead them like livestock or children to a "voting" station.
Hurray?

Women in Switzerland couldn't vote until 1971. And there was a canton (roughly equivalent to a county, I think) that denied them the right to vote on local issues until 1991. So I guess the Swiss were in the 17th Century until 1971?

That is true. But the Swiss did not treat their women as brood mares either.

ruveyn

Why yes, yes they where.
They also where very creepy towards their own people during the cold war.