Nayef said that the issue will be discussed, although the legislature’s right to decide remains, and in a system such as the Saudi monarchy, the king will be the one who decides. Saudi Arabia does not have an elected parliament, but an appointed council of the Shura (Majlis Al-Shura) that only has consultative powers.

“We expect a royal decree to give us this right,” said Yusef, perhaps encouraged by the appointment of thirty women in the council who have already recommended that the ban should be lifted, a recommendation immediately rejected by the Council’s 150 male members.

Activists are relying on the fact that the Saudi constitution is based on Sharia law and that, obviously for chronological reasons, there is no hint of such a ban in the Koran. The demand presented by the movement on October 26th was based specifically on this principle.

The history of an outdated ban…

Following the 2011 use made of the web by women reinvigorating the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 1990 to oppose the anachronistic ban, the October 26 protest clearly addressed the Saudi government, demanding it either abolish the ban or provide a clear juridical reason for denying women the right to drive.

There is no real reason, because the ban is really only a cultural issue, or rather a “social” one, followed by a fatwa and by a decree later adopted by the Interior Ministry to formalise the custom.

The great challenge is simply this, and points 4 and 5 of the online petition state that should the Saudi government maintain the ban, “we ask that citizens be presented with a valid legal justification” and should the government refuse to abolish this ban and to provide a valid justification “we ask that society be equipped with a legal procedure for expressing its wishes.” Hence a sort of referendum, almost unthinkable in a country in which there is no rule of law and in which the clergy and the monarchy rule the lives of their citizens on the basis of the most dogmatic interpretation of Islam.

One of the most recent excuses used to justify the ban that exists and continues to resist not only in Saudi Arabia, is the improbable theory expressed by a member of the clergy who said that due to the position assumed by the body, driving damages the ovaries and the reproductive system to the point of causing babies to be born with health problems. There is obviously no scientific research whatsoever confirming this theory.

And of an online campaign

At the moment the outcome of the protest that resulted in the arrest and fining of the sixteen brave women who dared challenge the ban and social conventions, is a media story that has moved well beyond the borders of the Middle East. It has done so thanks to a number of Twitter accounts and a website that is still active (after being sabotaged for a few days immediately after October 26),  www.oct26driving.com and an online petition also published in English. Another activist,  Manal Al Sharif, has announced that the campaign will continue until the symbolic date of “November 31st”, hence until the issue is resolved, as recent news appears to confirm.

This proves that online protest has worked and works just as well as those on the streets, and it is precisely all this kind of uproar that authorities in Riyadh had wished to avoid. This because the issue on driving is only the tip of a very large iceberg attracting the attention of the international community and it does not only concern women. Amnesty International’s most recent report, presented in Geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, emphasises the lack of human rights progress in Saudi Arabia are concerned as well as continuous violations ongoing in the kingdom including systematic discrimination against women and minorities, abuse of immigrants (recent reports speak of the forced deportation of 700,000 Egyptians), executions based on summary trials and confessions obtained using torture, a widespread practice. In Saudi Arabia the death sentence is inflicted also for crimes such as adultery, apostasy and witchcraft, as well as for more serious crimes such as rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery. None of the recommendations made in 2009 have been heeded, including guarantees for women.

And yet, some Saudis still reject all reform and there is also a form of counter-activism present. There are groups that for example hacked www.oct26driving.com, and also a counter-petition presented by Rowdha Yousef and sent to the Interior Ministry and to the Shura Council in order to prevent women from being authorised to drive, stating that in addition to increasing the risk of accidents, it would impact the social fabric, family values, religious sentiments and security. Rowdha Yousef  is a mother who is separated from her husband and an activist who became known in 2010 with a campaign reminiscently named “My tutor knows what is best for me”, referring to the Saudi law imposing a guardian, a father, brother, uncle or cousin, to manage many aspects of women’s lives, such as education, travel and work. Both in the past and present, campaigns organised by Rowdha appear to meet with approval, a sign of a still divided and conflicted society, but one that is clearly quite active.

Translated by Francesca Simmons