Saudi King Gives Women Right To Vote

Atheistextremist
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Saudi King Gives Women Right To Vote

 

September 26, 2011 - 6:14AM

 

Saudi women have been given the right to vote. Photo: AP

Saudi King Abdullah has granted women the right to vote and run in municipal elections, in a historic first for the ultra-conservative country where women are subjected to many restrictions.

 

"Starting with the next term, women will have the right to run in municipal elections and to choose candidates, according to Islamic principles," he said in speech to the Shura Council carried live on state television on Sunday.

 

Women's rights activists have long fought for the right to vote in the Gulf kingdom, which applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bans women from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian.

Manal al-Sharif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant who was arrested on May 22 and detained for 10 days after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving around the eastern city of Khobar, said the king's decision was "a historic and courageous one".

"The king is a reformist," she said of the 86-year-old monarch, whose country was spared a wave of protests rocking the region by which autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.

Sharif was the icon of a campaign through which a group of defiant Saudi women got behind the steering wheels of their cars on June 17 in response to calls for nationwide action against a ban on driving.

Abdullah's move was also hailed by the United States and Britain, which both called it a significant "step forward" for the Saudi people.

"The announcements made today represent an important step forward in expanding the rights of women in Saudi Arabia, and we support King Abdullah and the people of Saudi Arabia as they undertake these and other reforms," White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he welcomed the announcement and that "we look forward to examining the full details of the proposed changes and how they will work in practise".

The king's decision means women will be able to take part in the elections that are to be held in four years, as the next vote is due to take place on Thursday and nominations are already closed.

In addition to participating in the only public polls in the country, women would have the right to join the all-appointed Shura (consultative) Council, he said in the address opening the assembly's new term.

"We have decided that women will participate in the Shura Council as members starting the next term," the king said in the unexpected move to enfranchise women.

More than 5000 men will compete in Thursday's municipal elections, only the second in Saudi Arabia's history, to fill half the seats in the kingdom's 285 municipal councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The first elections were held in 2005, but the government extended the existing council's term for two years.

King Abdullah said his decision came because "we refuse marginalising women's role in the Saudi society in all fields" and followed "consultations with several scholars".

He did not mention anything about women's right to drive in the kingdom where they must hire male chauffeurs, or depend on the goodwill of relatives if they do not have the means.

However, he said "balanced modernisation which agrees with our Islamic values is a necessary demand in an epoch where there is no place for those who are hesitant" in moving forward.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/saudi-king-gives-women-right-to-vote-20110926-1ks2i.html    

 

"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck


Atheistextremist
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Snigger

Atheistextremist wrote:


King Abdullah said his decision came because "we refuse marginalising women's role in the Saudi society in all fields" and followed "consultations with several scholars".


"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck


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Oh is that nice "he gave

Oh is that nice "he gave them"

How about, fuck you king, you don't own anyone. You are just a prick who  dictates to people and is now realizing you cant be such a prick.

Women only need your permission to vote because you are a dictator. But the rest of the modern world knows they don't in reality. You are just a piece of shit who has money.

 

 

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 Muslim women have the

 Muslim women have the right to vote? Look for this to go away in good ol' Christian America soon...

"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin


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Crap.I started a similar

Crap.

I started a similar thread in the Politics forum. Mods please delete it.

 

OT, ya, what a great start to get the pendulum to swing the other way. I think this is a critical step in breeding more moderates in the Middle East, and a huge step in leading the world into a more 'evolved' humanity.

Kudos to the Saudi King.

 

 

I keep asking myself " Are they just playin' stupid, or are they just plain stupid?..."

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I tend to think

 

 

it's a move designed to give the appearance of a toleration that doesn't exist - in part a fear response to the hoo-haa going on in the Middle East.

But I agree. It's a good first step for the sisterhood. These sorts of freedoms have a way of gaining their own momentum. 

 

 

"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck


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Better late than fucking

Better late than fucking never! Religion sure takes its fucking time, doesn't it? Kicking and screaming the whole way.

Welcome to modernity, assholes.

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natural wrote:Better late

natural wrote:

Better late than fucking never!

Absofuckinglutely!

natural wrote:
Religion sure takes its fucking time, doesn't it? Kicking and screaming the whole way.

And you can't put the cat back into the bag!

IMO, this is kind of like the Iron Curtain being pulled back, or the Berlin Wall being taken down. Other countries will follow suit, I have little doubt.

natural wrote:
Welcome to modernity, assholes.

Amen!

I keep asking myself " Are they just playin' stupid, or are they just plain stupid?..."

"To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy" : David Brooks

" Only on the subject of God can smart people still imagine that they reap the fruits of human intelligence even as they plow them under." : Sam Harris


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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

My thinking on this is that what has been seen cannot be unseen. So the Major asshole has seen what happened in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. So he is, right now thinking “what is the tiniest thing I can possibly do that will make me look totally cool?”.

 

Women's rights? Everyone knows that women don't have rights. But a hand wave gesture with a number of years to change my mind on the matter before it actually kicks in might prevent a revolution.

 

 

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NoMoreCrazyPeople wrote:
Never ever did I say enything about free, I said "free."

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I think he's just covering

I think he's just covering his own ass. He doesn't want to see Egypt, Libya, etc. repeated in his country, so he's making moves so as to be progressive enough to prevent revolt.
So good for him, but I see what he did there.

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