About friggin time .....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15052030

Finally, Saudi Arabia has decided to give women the right to vote and run for political positions (at least municipal and possibly also national). Cynically they have timed it just in time for the current elections, meaning that it will be four years before Saudi women can actually exercise these rights.

Guardian 'correspondants' claim that this is evidence of the liberalising role of King Abdullah, the snail pace of which can be explained by the extreme conservatism of Saudi society and the political power of the clerics.

However, looking at the wider context this seems more likely to be a response to the successes and greater democracy brought about by the 'Arab Spring'. As popular uprisings secure full democracy all over the area it looks even stranger to have a relatively rich, politically stable state with massive regional influence that refuses to let women drive. The Saudi state's reaction to these uprisings has been luke warm at best. Saudi troops fired on protestors in Bahrain and the country has acted as a haven for ousted dictators from across the region.

Still it is at least a step in the right direction, whatever the underlying reasons. In 2009, Saudi Arabia was rated zero by the World Economic Forum, meaning it had shown no recognisable effort to achieve gender parity. Therefore, any step towards the better treatment of women is a great achievement. You just have to wonder how rational and consistent gender policy can ever be in a country where female politicians have to find someone to drive them into work in the morning!