former minister wins landmark mauritania vote

Former minister wins landmark Mauritania vote
26/03/2007 - 15:08:52

Former government minister Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has won Mauritania’s landmark presidential election with 53% of the vote, officials said today.

The other candidate in yesterday’s run-off election – longtime opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah – garnered 47%, said Interior Minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lamine.

Abdallahi’s installation on April 19 will mark the first time in the northwest African country’s history that leadership will change hands as the result of an election. Mauritania has been plagued by coups and dictators since gaining independence from France in 1960 and this election has been widely seen as the country’s first truly free presidential vote.

Mauritania is currently ruled by a military junta that seized power in a coup nearly two years ago promising to establish democracy. The international community at first denounced the takeover, but has since praised junta leader Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall for increasing freedoms and instituting political reforms. Vall organised the vote and refused to run, also banning any member of the ruling group from participating.

Abdallahi, 69, was minister of finance in one previous administration and minister of fishing under 21-year ruler Maaoya Sid’Ahmed Ould Taya. He fell out with Taya in 1987 and spent six months under house arrest. He is seen by some as a coalition candidate – supported by a group of 18 parties along with Taya’s former party.





The run-off between Abdallahi and Daddah was forced after none of 19 original candidates won more than 50% in a first round earlier this month.

Abdallahi led the field in the first round and the third- and fourth- place finishers threw their support to him.

Daddah, 65 – the brother of Mauritania’s post-independence leader and first president – is a longtime opposition figure who ran twice against Taya in past ballots and spent four years under house arrest.

Mauritania has experienced 10 coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. Previous elections were widely viewed as rigged.

The overwhelmingly Muslim country has largely embraced the changes brought by Vall since his bloodless coup in 2005, and both candidates had promised to continue his economic and social reforms.

About 1.1 million of Mauritania’s three million citizens were registered to vote. Turnout was above 60%, the ministry said.

International observers said yesterday that the vote went off without any major problems or inconsistencies. The US embassy issued a statement today saying its observers found the vote to be “credible, fair and transparent”.

Mauritania’s deposed leader Taya continues to live in exile in Qatar.