Africa is full of bad stories that started well and good stories that started badly. Mauritania is developing into one of the latter.
Voters waited patiently and peacefully in long lines to cast their ballots in the country’s parliamentary and provincial elections, recently.
They look set to do so again in presidential elections that are scheduled for March, ending military rule and completing the process of bringing democracy to this arid, sparsely populated country in north-west Africa.
When Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed Vall overthrew the tyrannical Maaouiya Ould Taya in a bloodless coup while he was out of the country last August, it appeared to be a classic case for the African Union to pull a red card.
The continental body has grown stricter in recent years, isolating countries in which power has been taken extra-ÂÂconstitutionally.
But Ould Taya was an unpopular and brutal leader who himself came to power in a 1984 coup and survived numerous attempts to overthrow him. The elections last year that gave him a third term as president were highly criticised by domestic and international observers.
By contrast, the referendum and elections organised by Vall’s junta have been given the seal of approval by the European Union observer team and other election observer missions.
Vall’s promise to restore democracy included a time frame for constitutional changes and elections, and an undertaking that neither he nor anyone else in the ruling clique would contest those elections.
The AU has watched as the junta met these milestones by restoring freedom of speech and association and then organising a constitutional referendum in June before the election this week. The new Constitution limits the presiÂÂdent to two five-year terms of office.
The world is looking over the country’s shoulder because Mauritania is due to start pumping crude oil in February. Once listed among the poorest countries in the world, Mauritania is undergoing an economic transformation at the same time as it is experiencing its democratic rebirth.
First indications are that the Progressive Popular Alliance, the party of former slaves — slavery was officially abolished in Mauritania only 25 years ago — has made a strong showing. Also among the front- runners is the opposition Rally of Democratic Forces and the Republic Party for Democratic Renewal, which was the party of Ould Taya.
No fewer than 28 parties are contesting the 95 parliamentary seats and 200 local councils.
”There is no doubt the voting will be along racial and cultural lines,” said Dr Timothy Othieno, a senior researcher at the Institute for ÂÂGlobal Dialogue.
”Slavery still remains a big issue in Mauritania; indeed, some still refer to it as the country’s best-kept secret. But the fact that people once despised and enslaved can now vote is commendable,” he said.
”The division between the Arab and Berber north and the mainly African south of the country is still pronounced and will be reflected in the results.
”We are also looking to see how the Islamist candidates fare. The Islamist parties are banned, but their leaders have been able to stand as independents. It will be interesting to see how they fit into the new political order and whether they will attempt to band together once in Parliament,” Othieno said.