Mauritanian presidential election, 2007

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Mauritania
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A Mauritanian presidential election occurred on 11 March 2007.^[1]^[2] Since no candidate received a majority of the votes, a second round was held on 25 March between the top two candidates, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah. Abdallahi won the second round with about 53% of the vote and will take office in April.^[3]

The 2007 election followed a military coup in August 2005 that ousted long-time president Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya; the head of the junta, Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, said that he and the other members of the junta would not run for president in the election, which marks the last stage of the transition to civilian rule.

1 Candidates and lead-up to the election
2 First round
3 Second round
4 References

[edit] Candidates and lead-up to the election

21 candidates registered to run for president^[4]^[5] of which 19 were approved to contest the election.^[6] Ahmed Ould Daddah, the leader of the Rally of Democratic Forces—part of the Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change, which took a large portion of seats in the November-December 2006 parliamentary election—was a candidate.^[5] Former military ruler Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, who came in second place, behind Taya, in the 2003 presidential election, announced his candidacy on December 27, 2006.^[7] Former coup leader Saleh Ould Hanenna was a candidate,^[8] along with another former coup leader, Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, who announced his candidacy on January 14, 2007.^[9] Other candidates included Zeine Ould Zeidane,^[10] Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, Mohamed Ould Maouloud, and Ibrahima Moctar Sarr.^[5]

Abdallahi, who ran as an independent, was viewed by some as the candidate representing the ruling junta, and in January he received the backing of an important coalition of 18 parties composed of former supporters of Taya.^[11] Abdallahi denied being the junta's candidate.^[12] The Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change sent a letter to various international organizations, including the African Union, accusing the junta of "running an open campaign in favour of one candidate" through various methods, including asking influential people in the country to back their favored candidate, although the letter did not directly name Abdallahi as this candidate.^[13]

Vall suggested at one point the possibility that, with blank ballots included in the total, no candidate would win a majority of the vote in two rounds, in which case new elections would have to be held. This caused a controversy, and the law was changed so that blank ballots would not count towards the total.^[14]

A record 1.1 million of the population of 3.2 million people registered to vote.^[15] Prior to the election, the frontrunners were considered to be Daddah, Zeidane and Abdallahi.^[10]^[16]

[edit] First round

On March 12, with about 26% of the vote counted, Abdallahi and Daddah were reported to both have about 25% of the vote; Zeidane was in third place with about 13%.^[17] With 86% of the vote counted, Abdallahi led with 22.76% of the vote, while Daddah had 21.46% and Zeidane was third.^[18] The interior minister then announced that Abdallahi and Daddah would compete in a second round on March 25.^[19] Abdallahi received about 24.8% of the first round vote, while Daddah received about 20.7% and Zeidane received about 15.3%.^[20] Messaoud Ould Boulkheir was fourth with about 9.8% of the vote, followed by Ibrahima Moctar Sarr with about 7.9%.^[19] It is estimated that 70% of the registered voters turned out to vote in the election.^[2]

Candidates – Parties	Votes	%
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi	183,726	24.80
Ahmed Ould Daddah – Rally of Democratic Forces	153,252	20.69
Zeine Ould Zeidane	113,182	15.28
Messaoud Ould Boulkheir – Popular Alliance for Progress	72,493	9.79
Ibrahima Moctar Sarr	58,878	7.95
Saleh Ould Hanenna – Mauritanian Party for Union and Change	56,700	7.65
Mohamed Ould Maouloud – Union of the Forces for Progress	30,254	4.08
Dahane Ould Ahmed Mahmoud	15,326	2.07
Mohamed Ould Cheikhna	14,200	1.92
Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla	12,813	1.73
Ethmane Ould Cheikh Ebi El Maali	10,868	1.47
Ba Mamadou Alassane – Party for Liberty, Equality and Justice	4,076	0.55
Mohamed Ahmed Ould Baba Ahmed Ould Salihi	2,779	0.38
Moulaye El Hacen Ould Jeid – Mauritanian Party for Renewal and Concord	2,535	0.34
Chbih Ould Cheikh Malainine	2,111	0.28
Rajel dit Rachid Moustapha – Mauritanian Party for Renewal	1,977	0.27
Sidi Ould Isselmou Ould Mohamed Ahid	1,784	0.24
Isselmou Ould El Moustapha – Party of Democratic Convergence	1,779	0.24
Mohamed Ould Mohamed El Moctar Ould Tomi	1,465	0.20
Mohamed Ould Ghoulam Ould Sidaty	652	0.09
Total valid votes	740,850	100.0
Total votes (turnout 70.2 %)	794,979
Sources: African Elections

[edit] Second round

On March 14, the Islamist "Réformateurs centristes", which supported Hanenna in the first round, backed Daddah for the second round.^[21] Hanenna has also backed Daddah,^[22] as did the candidates Ba Mamadou Alassane,^[23] Mohamed Ould Maouloud,^[24] and Ibrahima Sarr.^[25]

Abdallahi received the support of the third and fourth place candidates from the first round: on March 17, Zeidane announced his support for Abdallahi,^[26] and on March 19, Boulkheir also announced his support.^[27] Boulkheir's support came in spite of the fact that he was part of the Coalition of the Forces for Democratic Change along with Daddah.^[28] Abdallahi also received the support of several minor candidates: Dahane Ould Ahmed Mahmoud, Mohamed Ahmed Ould Babahmed Ould Salihi, Moulaye El Hacen Ould Jiyed, Isselmou Ould Mustapha, and Mohamedou Ould Ghoulam Ould Sidaty.^[22]

A televised debate between Abdallahi and Daddah was held on March 22. It was conducted in a non-confrontational style, with the candidates each explaining their positions.^[29] The candidates advocated similar policies, including measures against slavery, which persists in the country.^[30]

Abdallahi said that it would be easier for him to accomplish things as president because his supporters will constitute a parliamentary majority.^[3] He also said that if he won, he would include Daddah in the government, as long as his allies agree.^[31]

Following the election, on March 26, interior minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine declared Abdallahi the winner, saying that he won 52.85% of the vote.^[32] Abdallahi won 10 out of the country's 13 regions; Daddah won in Nouakchott, Inchiri Region, and Trarza Region.^[33] Turnout was about 67.5%.^[32] Daddah accepted the results and congratulated Abdallahi on his victory.^[3] The results were confirmed on 29 March 2007.^[34]

Vall has said that the winner of the election will be sworn in on April 19.^[35]

Candidates – Parties	Votes	%
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi	373,520	52.85
Ahmed Ould Daddah – Rally of Democratic Forces	333,185	47.15
Total:	706,705	100.00
Sources: African Elections, Senactu