During the reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, women achieved many achievements and held many high positions, in addition to the issuance of many decisions that support women's rights and enhance their participation in the labor market. They have given priority to developing women's talents and activating their role in the economy. Developing women's talents and investing their energies is a priority, and the vision aims to enable Saudi women to obtain appropriate opportunities to contribute to the development of society and the economy.
In a historic decision, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, issued on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 approving the implementation of traffic provisions and its executive regulations, including the issuance of driving licenses for both males and females, as of 10/10/1439 AH, provided that a high-level committee is formed. From the Ministries of Interior, Finance, Labor and Social Development, to study the necessary arrangements to implement this. The Supreme Order referred to what the majority of the Council of Senior Scholars saw regarding women driving the vehicle, that the legal ruling in that is in terms of permissibility, and that the opinions of those who made reservations focus on considerations related to the door to blocking pretexts.
For his part, the advisor at the royal court and a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Saad Al-Shathri, explained that allowing women to drive is basically permissible. The supervisor of the branch of the General Presidency for Research and Issuing Fatwas in the Qassim region, Dr. Khaled Al-Musleh, said: “The principle in women driving a car is permissibility, and that there is no disagreement among scholars about it.” On the other hand, Professor of Postgraduate Studies at Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Hatim Al-Sharif, confirmed that allowing women to drive is a right decision supported by correct legal consideration.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch issued 32 tweets this year targeting the Kingdom through it, and it was using the issue of women driving a car as a pretext to pass its dubious goals, while it targeted Iran with four tweets, at a time when the Bashar al-Assad regime enjoys human rights blessing by not tweeting about it and supporting it in the matter Killing and displacing Syrians.
A lofty matter that opened new horizons for Saudi women
Media researcher Abd al-Hadi al-Saeed says: Whoever watches the reaction of the local and regional media towards the issue of women driving sees that it is a worn-out issue, and there is no progress or delay in major issues. Therefore, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, was an exceptional man, and he endorsed this file, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020, and that closing this file will improve the Kingdom’s image globally and cut off the way for the stalkers. Al-Saeed added that the royal order will have consequences and a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and it will create jobs, and it will also reduce the level of crime committed by some drivers.
The traffic law guarantees the preservation of women who drive vehicles, with a clear text against anyone who assaults her by assaulting her honor or money, by depriving her of obtaining a driver's license.
And according to the text of Article 36 of the Traffic Law: “One of the impediments to obtaining a public driving license, or a driving license for public works vehicles, is that the applicant has previously been issued a court ruling for assaulting one’s honor, money, or self, or for using or manufacturing drugs, or smuggled or possessed.
On the other hand, there are a number of sectors that benefit from the decision, the most important of which are the automotive sector, insurance, and the banking and financial sectors. On the other hand, the demand for taxis will decrease, especially those for connecting families through smart applications such as the companies “Uber” and “Careem”, and Saudi women will be freed from “costly deductions”. The data of the General Authority for Statistics revealed that Saudi families spend more than 25 billion riyals on annual salaries on foreign drivers working for them, who numbered about 1.38 million drivers.
Arwa Khsheifati (Jeddah) @arwa_okaz
