Published on September 29th, 2011 | by Luca Gastaldi
Image © [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Saudi Women Drives for her Rights © Robert Reed Daly"][/caption] Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah overturned a court sentence condemning a woman to ten lashings for breaking the ban on female driving. At present, women are allowed to ride a car in Saudi Arabia only if accompanied by a man. The news comes after the announcement, two days ago, that Saudi women will be allowed to vote and run for office in the municipal elections of 2015. Earlier this week, Slate pointed out how the issue of being allowed to drive outweighs the concession on voting for Saudi women. Since elections decide for only half of the seats on municipal councils, while the monarchy nominates the remaining half and appoints mayors, voting gives citizens very limited political power. In addition, government has the power to postpone elections - as it did in 2009 -  and there is no guarantee that King Abdullah will maintain his promise. On the other hand, forcing the female driving ban has the potential to unsettle the guardian system that Saudi women are subject to. Women have to seek permission from a male family member to participate in public life, go to the doctor, travel or even get dressed. Saudi conservatives fear that allowing women to drive could destabilise a system based on strict control and segregation, and diminish male authority in society. The ban has been contested for more than twenty years, since in 1990 a group of fifteen women drove around the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in an act of defiance that led to their arrest. More recently, the women2drive campaign encouraged women to post on youtube videos of themselves driving a car, in an attempt to put the monarchy under pressure. Slate suggests that a lift of the ban would have revolutionary potential: it would reduce family control over women and allow them to look for work, a partner and even to organise politically. Will King Abdullah allow it to happen? (h/t ilpost)