A RECENT decree by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has gotten women's rights organizations and many other people in an uproar. Abdullah has given women the right to vote.
Women now can vote and run for positions on the local councils and also the Shura council. At first glance, such a development appears to be a monumental step toward the equal treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. A closer look reveals that while voting rights are an improvement from having almost no rights, it is far from the substantial improvement the country needs in women's rights.
In a democratic society, voting is a key right. Voting empowers people and provides every individual, regardless of gender, an opportunity to play a role in shaping the nation. In an absolute monarchy such as Saudi Arabia, however, voting rights do not hold nearly as much value as in the United States or elsewhere. In fact, Saudi Arabia only recently held the second national election in its history for positions on local councils.
Although it may appear that women are gaining power, in reality, the power of local councils is very limited. Moreover, only half the positions for the councils are decided by popular election. The members of the Shura council are chosen by the King, but the Shura council itself cannot veto legislation nor advocate reforms.
In essence, voting rights in Saudi Arabia do not indicate power because the positions that are determined by a popular vote do not actually have the power to make any difference in the country.
Women's suffrage is merely an illusion of progress and will not make that much of a difference in the daily lives of Saudi Arabian women, which is where reform is really necessary.
Women in Saudi Arabia do not possess simple everyday freedoms such as the right to travel, work and obtain medical procedures. At the moment, women still need a male guardian's permission to perform any of those tasks. Women also are banned from driving. Abdullah is attempting to calm the population through mostly minute reforms, to delay making crucial reforms that will empower women with greater freedom in everyday tasks. It is more important for women to receive these rights than the right to vote because rights like driving and travelling are more of a necessity than voting rights - elections only occur every few years.
When an election does occur in 2015, there is still the matter of whether or not women even will be able to exercise their right to vote. Although Abdullah has formally decreed women's suffrage, it remains to be seen how the clerics, among others, will react to the decree when the time comes.
It is more likely that Abdullah's new decree reflects a desire to prove to the people of Saudi Arabia and foreign nations that progress and reforms actually can occur in such a religiously conservative nation. In addition, the new voting decree may have been a reaction to the revolutions occurring across the Middle East. Abdullah is ensuring that he does not have to deal with a huge uprising of his own. In fact, it might be that Abdullah gave women the right to vote rather than the right to drive because it makes little impact and, therefore, will cause little tension among the clerics and ultra-conservative individuals in the nation.
I am not claiming that women's suffrage in Saudi Arabia should be ignored, but rather that the conservative nation still has a fairly long way to go in terms of women's rights. When women in Saudi Arabia can drive and travel at will, then I will say that the nation has made remarkable progress in the area of women's rights. Until then, I remain unconvinced about the true extent of freedom for women.
Fariha Kabir is a Viewpoint writer for The Cavalier Daily.
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