Saudi king Abdullah announced that Saudi women will be able to vote in 2015. That is interesting because I am not sure the king will be around at that time to see it happen, IF it happens. Even if he is still “there”, he may not be “there” altogether, if you get my drift. Nevertheless, ‘tribal liberals’ on my Gulf are cautiously hailing this “bestowal” as a sure sign of reform and progress.
He was talking about the toothless municipal councils not about any true elections. What this tells me is that the Saudis have changed their PR strategy. They have decided to follow the old Arab oligarch policy of pretending they are holding elections so that there will be less pressure on them from the outside. Potentates like Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, Bin Ali, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Omar al-Bashir, among others have tried that, as have the potentates of Bahrain and even the UAE (to a more limited extent). Like I said before, even dog-catchers are appointed.
Of course, women will still not be able to drive cars in 2015.
Cheers
mhg
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