Mauritanians voted on Sunday in a presidential run-off between a former technocrat and a veteran opposition leader, the last stage of returning civilian rule to the Islamic state bordering the Sahara.
The vote follows an inconclusive first round poll two weeks ago and seals a democratic handover by the army junta which seized control of the former French colony in a bloodless 2005 coup, the third military putsch since independence in 1960.
Candidates Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah have both promised to consolidate democracy and reforms in the country whose largely nomadic population is a complex mix of Arabs and Africans and where slavery persists.
Lines formed outside polling stations in capital Nouakchott before voting started at 7am GMT. Women in colourful veils and men in traditional robes lined up separately to cast their ballots, shivering in the morning chill.
”I want change for all Mauritanians, jobs and the means to build houses. I have no water where I live,” said Mbarka Mint Oumar, clutching her baby in one hand and her voting card in the other, as she waited outside a school near a poor suburb.
Mauritania, despite rich fisheries, minerals and oil, still suffers from widespread poverty, underdevelopment and simmering racial tensions.
Foreign observers hail the ballot box handover of power as a rare case of a coup that helped, not hindered, democracy.
”People in Mauritania are proud of this election. I think it has great significance, both for Africa and for the Arab world,” said United States ambassador Charles Twining.
Abdallahi favourite
Abdallahi (68) a seasoned technocrat who has served as minister in past administrations, is seen as the frontrunner after finishing the first round ahead of Daddah (64) a veteran opposition figure who has known both exile and imprisonment.
Abdallahi is favoured by members of the outgoing military junta, and by former allies of ex-president Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, who was overthrown in 2005, and has secured the backing of the third- and fourth-placed first round contenders.
Veteran Daddah argues his own candidacy offers a greater opportunity for genuine change.
”Daddah has been champing at the bit for 15 years [in opposition] … he could ruffle some feathers,” said one Nouakchott-based diplomat, who asked not to be named.
Both candidates have said they will review the country’s diplomatic ties with Israel — a rare relationship in the Arab world which many Mauritanians say should be ended.
They have also pledged cautious cooperation with the US-led global war against terrorism, which Mauritania has helped, and moves to spur economic growth and foreign investment in what is Africa’s newest oil producer.
But diplomats say the new president’s greatest challenge is to tackle poverty and widespread social and economic imbalances.
”We need a president who satisfies Mauritanians in all their diversity, who can give us democracy and justice … It will be God’s will,” said Abdoul Ndiay, a tyre repair man, as he waited to cast his ballot. – Reuters