JEDDAH, 22 December 2006 — There is no immediate move at the Shoura Council to introduce a bill enabling women to drive, according to a woman participant in an open discussion between the Shoura members and the women members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
Responding to a question posed by a businesswoman regarding the issue, Abdul Rahman Al-Yami, member of the Transportation and Telecommunication and Information Technology Committee at the Shoura Council, said the issue has never been seriously discussed.
“What you hear about the issue is incorrect because it has never been discussed seriously and no decisions have ever been taken on the matter,” he said.
The businesswoman was not satisfied with this answer and demanded to know what the Shoura Council was planning to do to accommodate the growing number of Saudi women who are becoming business executives and who need greater freedom to move around for their trade.
Al-Yami reiterated the Shoura’s stance that it is not against the idea of allowing women to drive, but that the cultural issues have to be resolved. He did not clarify further what this meant or what progress has been made in this social debate. Al-Yami made his comments at a meeting between seven council members and JCCI representatives on the topic of women’s rights.
Al-Yami pointed out that the Shoura has openly supported women’s empowerment issues, such as calling for allowing physical education curriculum in girl’s primary and high schools. Currently PE is only taught to boys in the Kingdom’s public schools.
Muhammad Al-Zulfa, a member of the Shoura Council, said recently that he was hopeful the government would step in to lift the ban on women driving.
“I hope the Kingdom’s leadership will look into the matter because the government is best placed to settle this issue, which is in the interest of society,” he said after the consultative body refused to debate a proposal to end the ban.
