On September 25 King Abdullah of the ultra-conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced several changes to the country’s electoral law, resulting in the franchise being extended to women for the first time in the kingdom’s history.

The key change to Saudi electoral law is that women will finally be able to both vote in and stand as candidates in the country’s municipal elections. King Abdullah has however stated that these changes won’t actually come into effect until the 2015 election, meaning that Saudi women will not be able to participate in this year’s election. The change also means that Saudi women will be able to be appointed to the country’s highest political body, the Shura Council.

On paper, these changes sound extremely important. Their actual effects, however, are not so impressive. Despite the changes, political power will remain concentrated where it always has been - with the Saudi royalty. Even the Shura Council lacks real power, as it is a purely advisory body. As a result, legislative responsibility will still remain largely in the hands of the royal family and outside the reach of Saudi Arabia’s women.

If the changes don’t actually mean much, the question then is: why have these alterations been brought in at this time?

Some analysts seem to be pushing the view that King Abdullah is a reformer, and that this is part of his gradual progress of his favoured programme of reform. This is a possibility, but it’s more likely that there are pragmatic reasons behind this announcement. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Syria’s President Assad was also labelled as a reformer when he became president, yet is currently attempting to bloodily put down the largely peaceful protests in his country.

There are three main audiences for this decision: the domestic audience, the Arab world, and the western world. Saudi Arabia hasn’t seen demonstrations on the same scale as in other Arab countries such as Egypt or Syria; however, the Saudi Arabian government has still been under pressure from certain pro-reform groups from within the kingdom. Women played an extremely important role in the protests seen in Saudi Arabia and have been demanding both electoral reform and changes to the country’s licensing laws, which currently make it impossible for women to obtain a driving license. This extension of the franchise is likely an attempt to placate these female protesters.
Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are all regional powers and are all currently trying to expand their influence in the region in the wake of the Arab Spring. With the fall of Mubarak in Egypt, Saudi Arabia lost a valuable partner in the region. Saudi Arabia is very aware that the populations of countries such as Egypt which so recently underwent revolutions may dislike their governments being on friendly terms with countries like Saudi Arabia, whose leadership and governing methods they may view as being similarly repressive. As a result, the people may prefer their governments to seek closer ties with democratic Turkey over dictatorial Saudi Arabia. For Saudi Arabia to remain a regional power it must preserve its ties with these countries, and the appearance of reform would certainly help this.

Countries such as the USA and the UK can often have a difficult time explaining how they can be so critical of regimes in the Middle East such as Syria's while simultaneously remaining on extremely friendly terms with Saudi Arabia. Any attempt by Saudi Arabia to reform, or at the very least give the impression of reform, will therefore make it easier for these countries to justify their relationship on the basis that the country is a preferable alternative to the regimes of which it is critical.

Ultimately, the question is whether these reforms are a sign of things to come or a symbolic move to pacify domestic protesters, woo fellow Arab countries, and give the kingdom a more moderate image. King Abdullah recently overturned a court ruling which sentenced several women convicted of breaking the driving ban to lashings. This fact suggests it is possible that more reforms are on the way, with Saudi women perhaps gaining the ability to drive soon. A law is only as effective as its enforcement, and if Saudi women who break the unofficial ban face no punishment, the ban is effectively over.
What this change of policy shows is that through taking to the streets, Saudi Arabia’s women appear to have been able to force concessions from the government. Hopefully, instead of dampening the protest movement, these concessions will encourage more Saudi citizens to find their voices, join the protests, and try and bring about greater change.