FOREIGN: Finally, Saudi Arabia To Let Women Drive

Saudi Arabia is set to finally allow women to drive in the country.
King Salman issued a historic royal decree on Tuesday granting Saudi women the right to drive after being banned for years, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The change, which was announced on state television, is expected to take effect next June.
While there is no official law that forbids women from driving, a longstanding religious ban has prohibited it for decades.
Up until now, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that didn’t allow women to get driver licenses.
Saudi clerics ultimately believe female drivers “undermine social values” and lack the “intellect” to navigate the nation’s roadways.
“Would you give a man with half an intellect a driving licence?” Sheikh Saad al-Hajari, head of the Saudi government’s religious edict authority in the southern province of Assir, alleged at a lecture earlier this month.
“So how would you give one to a woman when she has half an intellect?” he said, according to the Independent.
“And if they go out to the market this gets halved again! So they now have a quarter of an intellect.”
Saudi officials on Tuesday said a “high-level committee” of ministries — including internal affairs, finance, labor and social development — would be coming together to study the necessary arrangements for enforcement. They are expected to report within 30 days.
Culled From New York Post

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