Saudi women can not vote or drive cars.

RIYADH, May 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia's appointed Shura (consultative) council shelved a proposal by one of its members to lift the ban on women's driving in the kingdom, newspapers reported Monday, May 23.

“I do not know why the recommendation (to debate an end to the ban) was not approved by the (acting) president,” Mohammad Al Zulfa, who put the proposal forward to the 150-strong body on Sunday, May 22, told the English-language Arab News.

“We are not asking for a discussion of something that is sinful in our religion or in our culture. I think a lot of people in our society want to find a solution to this problem, which is that women are not allowed to drive.”

Al Zulfa has cited 18 supportive arguments to lift the ban, including the fact that it has led to the presence of around a million foreign drivers, costing the kingdom 12 billion riyals (3.2 billion dollars) a year.

However, Mahmud Tiba, the Shura Council deputy speaker, told the session that issues such as lifting the driving ban “should be discussed by the highest religious authority in the country”, reported the leading daily Al-Riyadh.

He was referring to the Council of Senior Ulema (scholars).

In Islam, riding bikes, driving cars and other means of transportation by women is permissible, as long as they stick to the Islamic manners.

Al-Riyadh quoted a high-ranking source in the council as saying the advisory body would not discuss the proposal, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But Al-Watan said a decision on whether the issue would be debated has been put off until council speaker returns from an official visit to Canada.

Zulfa, for his part, told the Arab News he hopes “the issue will be raised for discussion as I am sure that the council members with their experience will want to comment on the topic and also get the advice from related consultative bodies”.

The all-male Shura Council, which is named by King Fahd bin Abdel Aziz, has no legislative powers. Its recommendations are referred to the monarch and must be approved by the government.

On November 6, 1990, a group of 47 Saudi women defied the ban by driving across the streets of Riyadh in 15 cars.

They were swiftly rounded up by police and punished harshly.

Saudi women have been fighting for their various rights, but little has been achieved so far.

They were barred from voting in the recent municipal elections billed as a step toward reform in the country.

Saudi Arabia received the lowest rating on women's freedom in a survey of 17 nations in the Middle East and North Africa conducted by the American "Freedom House" and released at the weekend's World Economic Forum in Jordan.

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