THE announcement by the King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, that Saudi women will be given the right to sit as full members in the Shoura Council and stand for municipal council elections has given us a sense of pride. The key decision makes us, Saudi women, feel important because it has granted us the privilege to be on equal political footing with men after living under their shadows for a long, long time. As the papers have aptly put it, it was a triumph for us women. Despite these good tidings, some groups are trying to upstage the important decision by staging a public defiance of the driving ban on women; right after Saudi authorities relaxed the rules for those who tried to break the taboo. This strategy only aggravates the situation. Two days after King Abdullah announced the decision, a woman was sentenced to be flogged ten times for disobeying the ban on women driving. It was the first time that such a strict punishment was given officially to a female “traffic violator”. Being a woman, I felt a sense of humiliation and shock. In response, a group “Right2Dignity” vowed to continue its campaign for allowing women to drive until their voice is heard. It claims that women are undergoing persecution. “If we can vote, we should be able to drive by ourselves to the polling places,” their campaign says. Thankfully, our King overturned the flogging sentence. Although, there is nothing wrong with women demanding their right to drive, we have to be cautious not to take extreme steps but rather to follow a clear, rational path in seeking changes. Reforms don't come overnight. The King has been constantly treading the reformist road. He has been bringing reforms to Saudi women in the fields of education and employment opportunities, to cite a few. The recent political reforms that granted women the right to vote and to stand for election should not be mixed with the driving issue. Such a move, which displays impatience, would only slow down the King's efforts on reforms. Those who celebrate what we now call the Arab Spring should realize the chaos that has followed in the countries where bloody political unrest occurred. Saudi women should realize that the situations in those countries swept by the Arab Spring are different from the Kingdom's, especially on issues about women's rights. In the Kingdom, we are enjoying the fruits of prosperity, peace and unity. For this reason, it has become our responsibility to protect our country from any negative influence. Reforms can only be enjoyed in a gradual process. This requires patience and prudence. Unplanned changes will only bring chaos. There are ideas that sound good in theory but will not work in practice. We know our limits being Muslim women. We have a magnanimous King who deserves our trust and confidence. We will move ahead on the road of progress smoothly and peacefully. __
