Mauritanians vote in first step towards democracy

Three things about this strike me as important.

First is the guy who said the vote will change things a little is right. There won't be huge changes for a while.

Second, it's "home grown" democracy, the kind that has a chance of working.

Third, OMG they have oil! They'd better watch out for Bush & company.

Mauritanians took their first steps towards democracy on Sunday by voting in parliamentary and municipal elections which test the willingness of their military rulers to relinquish power after a bloodless coup last year.

Power has never changed hands through the ballot box before in the impoverished Islamic republic, which straddles black and Arab West Africa. Some voters cautiously hailed a new beginning.

"This vote is going to change things a little," said taxi driver Boubacar Sall. "Mauritanians understand now it is not the president who has all the power, it is the people."

Short queues formed at polling stations in the dusty capital Nouakchott as voting began slowly.

Some 1.1 million Mauritanians, or just over a third of the population, are registered to vote in Sunday's ballot, which prepares the way for the military junta to hand over power through presidential elections in March.

Many black Mauritanians expressed hope the polls could challenge the dominance of Mauritania's lighter-skinned traditional Moorish elite, which holds power in Africa's newest oil producer.

I'm still hopeful Thailand will follow this model soon.

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