Or Does It Explode?, a Middle East-North Africa civil rights blog, has a post about post-dictatorship Mauritania, where a new political party called Mauritanian Hope aims for a 50% male and 50% female membership. The original article's in Arabic, so I'll presume Or Does It Explode? isn't tricking me. I don't think it is, since we have the whole interrogative blog title thing going on.Doesn't the woman in the orange and pink hijab look like Aminatou Haidar? More equal gender roles in Mauritania should help the troubled country. Invading the Western Sahara certainly didn't. More liberal civil rights policies in Mauritania can only help Sahrawis, who are ethnically close to the Mauritanian people.
This is the first time I've mentioned Or Does It Explode?, but it won't be the last. It's a well-run blog that promotes a cause close to my heart, democracy and civil rights in MENA countries. It named the Western Sahara 2006's forgotten outrage, but hopes that will change. It doesn't play favorites, either, mocking Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's personality cult.