That’s how Max Fisher frames the Saudi King’s new proclamation on women and elections:
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced Sunday that Saudi women will finally be permitted to vote and even run in municipal elections starting in 2015, an enormous symbolic gesture toward women’s rights that will make little actual difference in Saudi Arabian politics, where voting and elected bodies are both largely irrelevant. Still, symbolism matters, and the mere fact that the king felt compelled to do this suggests that women could already be exercising a new level of political influence.
Juan Cole situates the move as part of a general, but possibly insufficient, attempt to stave off a revolt. Zeinobia wants the Saudi women’s movement to take their win in hand and refocus on the “right to drive” campaign.
The Dish 