A Cambridge-educated scientist, teachers and doctors are among the women appointed to a top advisory council in Saudi Arabia, marking a major step toward political emancipation for women in the conservative kingdom.

King Abdullah issued a royal decree on Friday granting women 30 positions on the previously all-male shura, or consultative council, although the 150-member body has no real political power. It only drafts and proposes laws for the king, who rules with absolute authority, and questions his ministers, who are also appointed.

But in the context of a kingdom where the religious establishment has held back social reform and wields enormous influence — partly because it upholds the legitimacy of the royal family — the change is significant. The royal decree, announced by the official state news agency, also establishes a quota of 20 per cent women on the council.

It sends the message that women are capable of working alongside men in public, Wajeha al-Huwaider, a prominent women’s rights activist in Jeddah, told The Star.

“It is a step forward and we support the king,” she said.

But she added that she hoped it was the beginning of real political reform. “It is a council which has no power and cannot pass laws, but I hope next time we have men and women who are elected.”

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The appointees, like their male colleagues, are technocrats drawn from the urban upper- and ruling-class and typically leaders in their field. Among them are Hayat Sindi, a visiting scholar at Harvard University who has a doctorate in biotechnology from Cambridge University in the U.K. Two princesses and several teachers were also named, including Thuraya al Arrayed.

“It is an opportunity given to us and I expect this experience to succeed,” Al Arrayed told the Al Arabiya network in Dubai. “I expect this decision to open doors for qualified women to take part in all fields and not just in politics.”

She added that she would represent the interests of all Saudis, not only women.

At the top of their agenda should be reforming the guardianship system, which does not allow women to drive or leave the country without the permission of a male relative, usually a husband or father, said al-Huwaider.

“The guardianship system is paralyzing our life,” she said. “It is like we are criminals, or children. These women on the shura council have reached this high position in our society but cannot even drive to work.”

The women will have separate entrances and offices, in keeping with gender segregation practised in Saudi Arabia. The announcement also stated they would wear the “religious veil” and must be committed to “Islamic sharia disciplines without any violations.”

The appointments highlight King Abdullah’s reputation as a slow, but perhaps steady, reformer in a country where debate on women’s role in the public sphere usually centres on how ready Saudi society is to embrace change. In 2009 he was the first to appoint a woman to cabinet when he named his deputy education minister.

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He said last year that women would be allowed to run for office and vote in the 2015 municipal elections.

Not everyone was impressed, however. A hashtag that translated as “the new shura council does not represent me” was trending on Twitter Friday, with Saudis complaining that the body did not represent the population.

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