Thursday, 24 March, is a special day in the history of the rural commune of Haouza.

This commune has, in fact, just recorded an unprecedented situation in our Saharan provinces.

Meeting in an extraordinary session, following the sudden death of its president, the rural council of the commune elected a woman to preside over it.

Haouza, a rural commune located a few miles from Rabouni, the stronghold of the Polisario, has a few hundred inhabitants.

It has just set an example in terms of democracy by electing, unanimously by its members, a president in the person of Maâlouma Boussaaid, who kept the same composition of the office bequeathed to her by her predecessor unchanged.

Coming from a family in Smara, the new president grew up in a highly politicized environment. She enjoys the consideration of all the members of the office who have granted her their trust to lead the commune. In a first statement, she thanked her colleagues for the trust they placed in her and committed to sparing no effort to live up to this trust and to continue the great achievements accomplished in recent years in order to meet the expectations of the commune's inhabitants. She also highlighted the great efforts made by the members and officials of the commune and her determination to stay the course of development based on good governance, good management, and permanent consultation with the inhabitants.