King Abdulla bucks the trend

Saudi King Abdullah has appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council in decrees published on Friday, marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-conservative Kingdom. The decrees gives women a 20 percent quota in the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to advise him on policies and legislation. One decree amended an article in the council's statute to allow women to be members while the other named the 150 members, among them 30 women. The names of new Shura members including women are likely to be announced on January 15. All the nominees are highly qualified and have worked as consultants at the Shura.   Since it was founded in 1993, the council has never had any women members. But in a landmark move in September 2011, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced that women would be appointed on the Shura from its next term. He also said that they would be allowed to vote and contest municipal elections in 2015.