There are many reasons why the elections held in February—touted by some as the birth of democracy in Saudi Arabia—were a travesty.

There were the minor obstacles preventing a meaningful election, like the ban on political parties and the total lack of press freedom. Candidates were prohibited from using television, radio, or the Internet to communicate with their constituencies. Those adventurous enough to run for office under such constraints were reduced to holding mass meetings in tents, where they offered the gatherings a meal of rice and lamb to garner votes.

The immediate effect of muzzling the candidates was public indifference. Only a quarter of the eligible voters bothered to register. Of the Saudis I spoke to, none had the vaguest inkling what any of the candidates stood for, as they'd never had a chance to hear the candidates express their views on any issues. Others told me that they didn't bother to register because they never thought the government would actually allow the elections to be held.

Further trivializing the election's significance was the fact that women, who make up over fifty percent of the population, were totally excluded from the electoral process. Several reasons were offered as to why women were denied the right to run for office or vote, ranging from lack of identification cards to the "inconvenience" of men and women mingling at polling booths. (As all public gatherings are forbidden in Saudi Arabia, special permission had to be granted to allow male voters to gather at polling booths.) While it's true most women don't have any kind of identification card—why would they, considering they can't drive, travel, or even open a bank account on their own—they were excluded for another reason. A poll was conducted in which men were asked what they thought about women voting, let alone running for office. Overwhelmingly, they were against the idea.

But it's not all bad news for Saudi women. They've been told they may be able to vote in the next election scheduled for 2009. What's another four years after centuries of suppression? Perhaps to help assuage any potential resentment, the A'al Mehdi Real Estate Co. announced they were going to build a new, completely enclosed, three-story mall in Riyadh exclusively for women. In a city known for monster-sized malls, this will be the mother of all malls, staffed solely with women. Even the security guards will be women. That should keep the women distracted for the next four years, which is plenty of time to come up with another excuse to exclude them from the next election.

Further nullifying the elections' validity was the sheer puniness and insignificance of the positions for which the candidates were competing. Over 1,800 individuals ran for half the seats on 38 municipal councils. Not only were the candidates running only for municipal council seats, no one even knew what their responsibilities would be if they won or what power they would have, if any.

In some twisted way it makes sense that candidates were denied access to the media. After all, what could they have said to convince the public they were the right men for the job, when they didn't even know what the job entailed? Hopefully, their responsibilities will extend beyond garbage collection.

Regardless of their duties, there's certainly no need to worry about them abusing their power, if they in fact have any, as they will only control half of the municipal seats. The royal family will elect individuals for the other half.

Immediately after the election several liberal candidates cried foul. Apparently, some conservative candidates were clever enough to claim they had the official backing of prominent religious figures, a claim later denied. Though fictitious, at least it was a platform. In the end, Islamists won all the seats on the municipal councils and it's everyone's bet everything will now remain the same as it ever was.

While the slimmest minority of the population decided who would fill the meaningless positions of a spurious election, the real reformers—Ali Al-Demaini, Abdullah Al-Hamed, and Matruk Al-Faleh—remain in jail. These three brave individuals were arrested last March for signing a petition asking that a constitutional monarchy be established in Saudi Arabia. Because they will not relent, they are facing trial in a closed court. Their lawyer, Abdulrahman Al-Lahem, arrested last November, also remains in jail. At the last hearing for the three defendants, two of Abdullah Al-Hamed's brothers and two journalists were arrested for objecting to the closed-door hearings. The list of incarcerated reformers continues to grow.

Fifteen people who staged a peaceful anti-government protest in Jeddah last December have been sentenced to prison and flogging. The number of lashes they receive depends on whether or not they have “repented.”

In London, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that when it comes to reform, America expects more of its friends, but that the Saudis could "move at their own pace."

At their own pace.

It's good the citizens of Saudi Arabia believe in eternity, because it's going to be at least that long before the royal family willingly relinquishes its hold on the country and allows anything resembling real democratic reform.