It seems that no one is taking seriously the elections of women to impotent and powerless municipal councils except the New York Times

This is like a product of a PR firm hired by House of Saud: "The elections for local councils across the kingdom were the first time that women were able to participate — as both voters and candidates — and rights activists lauded the move as further expanding the role of Saudi women in public life. The rules were largely the same for candidates of both genders."  Rights activists? Do you mean rights activists who are employed by the Saudi regime?

PS This is the most important part of the article: "during a visit to a Riyadh polling place organized by the Saudi Information Ministry."