mauritania polls test juntas will to leave power

Mauritania polls test junta's will to leave power
00:28, Friday, 17 November 2006

By Daniel Flynn

NOUAKCHOTT, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Mauritanians vote on Sunday
in parliamentary polls which will test the willingness of their
military rulers to hand over the Saharan country to civilian,
democratic rule after a bloodless coup last year.

Sunday's ballot in the impoverished Islamic Republic, which
straddles black and Arab West Africa, is the first election
since the August 2005 coup ended two decades of dictatorship and
it paves the way for presidential elections in March.

The campaign has brought two weeks of celebrations to the
farthest reaches of the desert nation of 3 million people, with
music and political slogans blaring from loudspeakers late into
the night at carpeted Bedouin tents in towns and villages.

Observers say the presence of black African parties may
raise tensions with the traditional Moorish elite, which holds
power in Africa's newest oil producer. Diplomats are also
watching for support toward Islamist candidates in a region regarded
as an arena in the U.S. war on terror.

Power has never changed hands through the ballot box in
Mauritania, whose history has been marred by coups and decades
of one party rule since independence from France in 1960 -- a
trend which Sunday's vote hopes to correct.

Many Mauritanians, however, remain unconvinced the
legislative and municipal polls will usher in a better life.

"Democracy is just a mirage, an illusion," said Fatima, a
19-year-old girl in brightly-coloured headscarf, jostling in the
darkness among a crowd watching dancers in a brightly-lit tent
in the capital Nouakchott. "Nothing will change."

The military council, headed by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed
Vall, has pushed ahead with political reform since ousting
President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.

A referendum in June approved constitutional changes to
limit presidential terms -- making Mauritania one of the few
Arab nations to impose such measures and bucking the trend in
sub-Saharan Africa.

"Our duty is to watch over our country's interests," Vall
said in a recent speech, vowing to punish severely any fraud in
Sunday's poll. "The democratic choices of the Mauritanian people
will not be called into question."



OIL DISAPPOINTS

Mauritania started pumping oil in February, but initial
results from the field operated by Australia's Woodside
Petroleum have been disappointing.

Many of Mauritania's 1.1 million voters believe change will
be slow in coming. In the oasis town of Chinguetti, famed for
its ancient Islamic libraries and mosque, revellers in flowing
robes pass from one campaign tent to the next under the stars,
often moving on when the music stops and speeches begin.

"Here candidates spend money on music and food during the
campaign, because they know they will get it back once they are
in office," said Abdu Zarga, 28, who runs a guesthouse.

Twenty-eight political parties are competing for the 95
seats in the national assembly, with the Assembly of Democratic
Forces (RFD) of veteran opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah
expected to perform strongly.

The military junta has also encouraged independent
candidates to take part: of the 1,222 electoral lists for
municipal elections, over a quarter are independents.

Many Mauritanians see this as a effort to humble political
parties. The national assembly building in Nouakchott is
currently serving as the headquarters of the military junta.

"The military council wants candidates they can control.
They are afraid that under the next government they could be
prosecuted," said Hassan Massould, in the northern town of Atar.

Vall, a long-time security chief under Taya, has dismissed
claims the military council wants a puppet government: "If that
was our aim, we would stay in power."

(Additional reporting by Ibrahima Sylla)

((Editing by Fredrik Dahl; Dakar Newsroom +221 864 5076))


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