Mauritanian presidential elections heads into second round

2007-03-13

With no clear victor emerging from Sunday’s presidential elections in Mauritania, top candidates will compete in a second round later this month.

By Adil Dekkaki for Magharebia in Washington – 13/03/07

[Getty Images] Election officials count the ballots from Mauritania’s presidential vote.

Mauritania is scheduled to hold a run-off round in its presidential elections on March 25th, as none of the 19 presidential candidates obtained an absolute majority in Sunday's first round. Mauritania's Minister of the Interior Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Amin announced that the vote count had been completed in all electoral districts. He said the results showed independent candidate Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi with 24.79% of the votes, followed by former opposition politician and Rally for Democratic Forces (RFD) leader Ahmed Ould Daddah, who obtained 20.68% of the votes. Zein Ould Zeidan came in third with 15.27% of the votes.

Amin said turnout on Sunday was considerable, at more than 70% of registered voters. This high rate of participation, according to many observers, highlights the importance Mauritanian voters placed on the first presidential elections the country has seen since the overthrow of Maaouya Ould Ahmed Taya’s regime in 2005. It also reveals the political parties' desires to instill democracy, political pluralism and peaceful transition of power in Mauritania.

The Interior Ministry submitted the preliminary results to the Constitutional Council, which will wait three days -- the legal delay stipulated in the Mauritanian Constitution -- to review any challenges submitted by candidates or others before announcing official results. Under Article 16 of the Mauritanian Constitution, the second round can then proceed.

Ould Abdellahi welcomed the results, urging all candidates not qualifying for the second round to join his electoral campaign and support his platform with an aim towards safeguarding Mauritania’s future and firmly establishing national institutions. He said the second round of elections is a clear message that Mauritania's people want to manage the country’s affairs through co-operation, consultation and collective work. Ould Abdellahi renewed his commitment to transformation, and vowed that if he is elected, he will follow a new method of governance, diverging completely from that which prevailed in the country -- even though he has strong support from the former ruling parties.

Ould Daddah said a second round of presidential elections is a victory for all Mauritanians. He said the majority of voters expressed their priorities in the first round, calling on political powers to "begin building a strong, unified nation that guarantees all citizens their rights with justice and equity". He called on everyone to unite and co-operate to achieve the comprehensive change and reform called for by most Mauritanians.

The next president will take office 45 days after the second round of elections, scheduled for March 25th. Members of the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, which has overseen Mauritania’s affairs since the 2005 coup, pledged that the Council would disband and its members would return to their military posts. Meanwhile, Council President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall vowed to withdraw entirely from political life and clear the way for the country’s new president to assume his responsibilities.