Democratic civilian rule is on the brink of being restored to Mauritania after a landmark free election in the vast north African country which has seen little stability since winning its independence from France more than 40 years ago.
Members of the outgoing military junta are stepping down after barring themselves from standing as candidates in Sunday’s presidential poll.
Mauritania, largely desert, twice the size of France and desperately poor but excited about potential oil wealth, is an Islamic Republic, a member of the Arab League, an ally of the US in its ”war on terror” and, controversially, also has diplomatic relations with Israel.
The election, following multiparty parliamentary polls late last year, completes a promised handover to civilian rule by the junta headed by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, which in 2005 overthrew President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, who had seized power in a coup in 1984.
”We’ve fulfilled our commitment and now it’s time to go,” Vall told reporters on Sunday in the capital Nouakchott.
A record 1,1-million of the country’s 3,2-million people, many of them nomads, were registered to vote. Symbols of bedouin tents and camels featured on ballot papers to help illiterate voters. Nineteen candidates were standing for president and if none wins more than 50% a run-off round will be held to decide between the two frontrunners.
Racial tensions lurk behind many political issues, with Black Mauritanians complaining of discrimination under a system that has favoured the white Moorish elite who have traditionally held power. – Guardian Unlimited Â