WUNRN
The
Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia also known as the Shura Council is the formal
advisory body of Saudi Arabia, which is an absolute
monarchy. It cannot pass or enforce laws, a power reserved for the King.
The Consultative Assembly has limited powers in government, including the power
to propose laws to the King. It has 150 members, all of whom are appointed by
the King.
SAUDI
ARABIA - WOMEN DEMAND END TO ABSOLUTE MALE CONTROL
March 2, 2014 -
It is also the only
country that bans women from driving, and a woman cannot obtain an
identification card without the consent of her guardian.
Aziza Yousef, one of
the women who signed the petition, said “rights activists have petitioned the
Shura Council on the occasion of the International Women’s Day (on March 8)
demanding an end to the absolute authority of men over women”.
They demanded
measures to protect women’s rights, she said.
Laws in the kingdom
enforcing such restrictions on women “are not based on religious” teachings,
said Ms Yousef.
The petition, signed
by nine other women, also calls for allowing women to drive.
Women in Saudi must
obtain permission from a male guardian to perform “certain surgeries” and to
“leave the university campus during study hours,” she said.
She cited a recent
case in which a pregnant student had to give birth on campus after a women-only
university in
And a university
student died last month after paramedics were prevented from entering her
campus because they were not accompanied by a male guardian, a must according
to the segregation rules in the kingdom.
This year,
Three female members
of the Shura Council presented a recommendation that women be given the right
to drive in October, but the male-dominated 150-member assembly blocked the
proposal.
The Shura Council is
appointed by the king and advises the monarch on policy, but cannot legislate.
* Agence
France-Presse