More than 5,000 men have put themselves forward as candidates for next week's municipal elections in Saudi Arabia. This is only the second time in almost half a century that Saudis (or rather, Saudimen) have had an opportunity to vote.

In 2005, half the members of the relatively powerless municipal councils were elected for a four-year term (the other half were appointed by the king). Fresh elections were originally due in 2009 but were quietly forgotten about – postponed for "re-evaluation" – and have now come back to life, possibly stimulated by the Arab Spring.

Once again, the authorities have chickened out on the question of women's participation and activists are calling for a boycott of the polls.

In 2005, the authorities defused complaints about the exclusion of women by citing technical problems relating to the registration of female voters, provision of gender-segregated voting facilities, etc, etc, but hinted that "next time" would be different.

The next time has now arrived, and it's still the same. Earlier this month, the royally-appointed Shura Council recommended (in the face of some internal opposition) that women should be allowed to vote but, even if the king were to accept their recommendation there would not be enough time to make the necessary arrangements for this year's elections. 

So, once again, women are left waiting for the "next time" and, even if they are allowed to vote then, there is no sign of them being allowed to stand as candidates.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 22 September 2011.