Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 11 March 2007.Election Guide"Mauritania vote 'free and fair'", BBC News Online, March 12, 2007. As 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 took office in April."Abdallahi vows to be a 'reassuring president'", AFP (IOL), March 26, 2007.
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.
Campaign First round 21 candidates registered to run for president"Twenty-one candidates vie for presidency in Mauritania", African Press Agency, January 26, 2007."Over 20 candidates register for Mauritania's presidential elections", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), January 27, 2007. of which 19 were approved to contest the election."19 eye Mauritanian election" , The Point (The Gambia), March 2, 2007. Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who served as a minister under Moktar Ould Daddah during the 1970s and briefly under Ould Taya in the 1980s, announced his candidacy for president on July 4, 2006."Bio express", Jeuneafrique.com, February 25, 2007. Ba Mamadou Alassane, President of the Party for Freedom, Equality and Justice (PLEJ), announced his candidacy on July 19, 2006."Ba Mamadou Alassane candidat aux élections présidentielles de 2007", Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, July 19, 2006 . The former head of the Central Bank, Zeine Ould Zeidane, announced his candidacy on December 18, 2006."M. Zein Ould Zeidane annonce sa candidature aux élections présidentielles" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, December 18, 2006 . Dahane Ould Ahmed Mahmoud announced his candidacy on December 23."Dahane Ould Ahmed Mahmoud annonce sa candidature pour les présidentielles" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, December 23, 2006 . 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."Mauritanian ruler from the 1980s enters post-coup presidential race", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), December 28, 2006. On January 2, 2007, Mohamed Ould Maouloud, President of the Union of the Forces of Progress, was designated as his party's candidate."L'UFP présente son candidat aux prochaines élections présidentielles" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 2, 2007 ."Le Président de l'UFP candidat aux Présidentielles de 2007" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 3, 2007 . Former coup attempt leader Saleh Ould Hanenna was chosen by his party, the Mauritanian Party for Union and Change (HATEM), as its candidate on January 9."Le parti "Hatem" présente M. Salah Ould Hanena, candidat aux élections présidentielles" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 9, 2007 . Ahmed Ould Daddah, the half-brother of Moktar Ould Daddah and the leader of the Rally of Democratic Forces — part of the Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change,"Q&A: Mauritania elections", BBC News Online, March 9, 2007. which took a large portion of seats in the November–December 2006 parliamentary election"Mauritanian opposition leader claims victory", DPA (IOL), November 21, 2006. — announced his candidacy on January 12."M. Ahmed Ould Daddah annonce sa candidature pour les présidentielles à partir de Kiffa" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 12, 2007 . Another former coup attempt leader, Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, announced his candidacy on January 14."Former putschist to contest presidency in Mauritania", African Press Agency, January 16, 2007. On January 20, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, President of the People's Progressive Alliance (APP), announced his candidacy."Messoud Ould Boulkheir, candidat à la présidentielle mauritanienne de mars" , African Press Agency (lemauritanien.com), January 20, 2007 ."M. Messaoud Ould Boulkheir annonce sa candidature à l'élection présidentielle" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 20, 2007 . Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine announced on February 3 that he was withdrawing his candidacy and backing Haidalla, but he was not allowed to officially withdraw his candidacy, although according to Melainine he had requested the withdrawal two days before the February 4 deadline."Ch'Bih Ould Cheikh Melainine retire sa candidature à la présidentielle de mars 2007" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, February 3, 2007 .
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."Mauritania candidate gets boost", BBC News Online, January 30, 2007. Abdallahi denied being the junta's candidate."Mauritanian presidential hopeful denies connivance with military junta", African Press Agency, February 1, 2007. 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."AU asked to monitor Mauritania poll" , al-Jazeera, January 7, 2007.
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."EU wants live broadcast for Mauritanian presidential candidates’ debate", African Press Agency, February 8, 2007.
A record 1.1 million of the population of 3.2 million people registered to vote. Prior to the election, the frontrunners were considered to be Daddah, Zeidane and Abdallahi."Mauritania set for watershed poll", BBC News Online, March 11, 2007."Profile: Three major contestants in Mauritanian presidential race", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), March 11, 2007.
Second round After no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round and Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah advanced to the second round, on March 14, the Islamist "Réformateurs centristes", which supported Hanenna in the first round, backed Daddah for the second round."Présidentielle : premiers soutiens aux candidats en vue du 2e tour" , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), March 14, 2007 . Hanenna also backed Daddah,"The two run-off candidates continue to woo the Mauritanian voters", African Press Agency, March 16, 2007. as did the candidates Ba Mamadou Alassane,"Bâ Mamadou Alassane soutient Ould Daddah au deuxième tour de la présidentielle en Mauritanie", African Press Agency, March 17, 2007. Mohamed Ould Maouloud,"Mauritania : Ould Daddah gets support of seventh place holder for presidential runoff", African Press Agency, March 19, 2007. and Ibrahima Sarr."Mauritania : Ould Daddah gets support of fifth place holder for presidential runoff", African Press Agency, March 20, 2007.
Abdallahi received the support of the third and fourth place candidates from the first round: on March 17, Zeidane announced his support for Abdallahi,Ibrahima Sylla, "Abdallahi receives boost ahead of polls", Reuters (IOL), March 19, 2007. and on March 19, Boulkheir also announced his support."Debate between Mauritanian presidential candidates to be held on Friday", Maghrebia.com, March 20, 2007. 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."How Sidi Ould Abdellahi won the Mauritanian presidential election", African Press Agency, March 27, 2007. 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.
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."Présidentielle : un débat historique pour renforcer la démocratie" , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), March 23, 2007 . The candidates advocated similar policies, including measures against slavery, which persists in the country."Mauritanians vote in presidential run-off", Magharebia.com, March 25, 2007.
Abdallahi said that it would be easier for him to accomplish things as president because his supporters would constitute a parliamentary majority. He also said that if he won, he would be willing to include Daddah in the government, as long as his allies agreed."Ould Abdellahi vows to form govt with Daddah if elected", African Press Agency, March 25, 2007.
Results 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%."No clear winner yet in Mauritania", AFP (IOL), March 12, 2007. With 86% of the vote counted, Abdallahi led with 22.76% of the vote, while Daddah had 21.46% and Zeidane was third."Abdalahi, Daddah enter second round of Mauritanian presidential race", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), March 12, 2007. Later on March 12, Interior Minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine announced the provisional results and said that Abdallahi and Daddah would compete in a second round on March 25."Proclamation des résultats provisoires du 1er tour de la présidentielle", Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, March 12, 2007 .Pascal Fletcher, "No clear winner after elections in Mauritania", Reuters (IOL), March 13, 2007. Final results were proclaimed by the Constitutional Council on March 15: Abdallahi received 24.80% of the first round vote, while Daddah received about 20.69% and Zeidane received about 15.28%. Messaoud Ould Boulkheir was fourth with about 9.79% of the vote, followed by Ibrahima Moctar Sarr with 7.95%. There were 794,979 voters out of the 1,133,152 who were registered, a turnout rate of 70.16%."Le conseil constitutionnel proclame les résultats du premier tour de l'élection présidentielles du 11 mars 2007" , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, March 15, 2007 .
First round By wilaya WilayaCheikh AbdallahiDaddahZeidaneBoulkheirSarrHannenaMaouloud Adrar 32.59 8.98 30.66 7.18 1.50 3.26 1.96 Assaba 31.40 15.93 21.49 5.30 0.79 7.98 7.32 Brakna 35.26 19.45 4.21 7.27 14.58 6.12 3.15 Dakhlet Nouadhibou 10.50 16.41 17.45 19.79 12.06 7.05 2.38 Gorgol 29.14 7.34 8.65 13.01 19.56 1.62 8.35 Guidimaka 29.46 8.03 12.95 14.86 12.92 4.61 8.12 Hodh Ech Chargui 35.85 10.42 29.47 4.82 0.42 7.28 2.10 Hodh El Gharbi 30.86 9.65 22.56 2.80 0.41 20.63 3.00 Inchiri 27.90 24.23 21.42 4.39 3.00 3.41 1.50 Nouakchott 10.28 23.80 14.38 16.05 13.29 8.98 3.27 Tagant 39.54 12.15 15.10 4.69 0.40 2.16 16.85 Tiris Zemmour 18.89 11.37 15.20 16.97 7.22 6.16 3.65 Trarza 24.65 52.67 5.47 5.17 2.43 4.97 0.91Source: Electoral Geography
Aftermath 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."Mauritania has a new president", AFP (IOL), March 26, 2007. Abdallahi won 10 out of the country's 13 regions; Daddah won in Nouakchott, Inchiri Region, and Trarza Region.Map of election results. Turnout was about 67.5%. Daddah accepted the results and congratulated Abdallahi on his victory. The results were confirmed on 29 March 2007."Mauritanian constitutional court confirms Cheikh Abdellahi as president", African Press Agency, March 29, 2007.