Saudi Arabian Elections

Saudi Arabia held the first round of nationwide municipal elections yesterday, and I have to admit, I really doubted they would go through with it. This is still a long way from democracy - with their power to appoint half the municipal council members, the monarchy will still control what happens, and it remains to be seen how much free expression the elected ones will have. They say every journey begins with a first step - we'll see if this qualifies as a real step or just window dressing.