Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud issued an order on Tuesday that paves the way for women to obtain driver’s licenses, according to Saudi State media.
The Royal Decree ordered the formation of a Ministerial body to give advice within 30 days and then implement the order by June 2018.
It stated that the move must “apply and adhere to the necessary Sharia standards,” without providing specific details, and added that a majority of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars had approved its permissibility.
The decision has sparked euphoria and disbelief among activists in the kingdom, which was the only country in the world to ban women from driving.
The leaders also hope the new policy will help the economy by increasing women’s participation in the workplace. Many working Saudi women spend much of their salaries on drivers or must be driven to work by male relatives.
In 1990, Saudi women began demanding social reforms, including the right to drive, but instead the religious police cracked down harder, formalizing a driving ban that had previously been unofficial.
47 women were arrested and had their passports confiscated for protesting.
In 2007, Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni submitted 1,100 petitions to the King of Saudi asking for women to be allowed to drive.
An activist, Manal al-Sharif also started a Facebook Campaign, ‘Women2Drive’ in 2011.
She later filmed herself behind the wheels which attract supporters all over the world.
She was later arrested and detained by the Saudi authorities.
The Crown Prince of the Kingdom, Prince Mohammad bin Salman had said in 2016, that Saudi is not ready to reform the ban on women driving.
He further stressed that the topic was not about religion (Islam) but the cultural norms.
“Women driving is not a religious issue as much as it is an issue, that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it,” he said.
The Prince has been seen as a reformer, after being elevated to Crown Prince by his father in June this year.
The new decision has attracted recommendations and support all around the world with the US State Department welcoming the move as “a great step in the right direction”.
The President of US, Donald Trump, also congratulated the Kingdom for the decision calling it a “Positive step”
In Washington, Saudi Ambassador Prince Khaled bin Salman described the decision as a huge step. “It’s not just a social change, its part of economic reform,” he said.
The decision follows the reform of last week, which have seen Saudi now allowing women into the stadium for the first time
Ms. Sharif, who now lives in Austrialia after her release, twitted to the news.
“Today the last country on earth to allow women to drive … we did it.
