Mauritania Opposition Rejects Presidential Election Results

By Scott Stearns Nouakchott, Mauritania 19 July 2009 Mauritanian opposition candidates are rejecting results from a presidential election that show former military leader Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz winning. With more than 70 percent of ballots counted, Mauritania's electoral commission says Aziz is winning more than 52 percent of the vote. If that count holds up, the leader of last August's coup would win election in the first round - avoiding a run-off in which his main political opponents had vowed to unite against him. Those opponents immediately rejected the provisional results as an "electoral charade, which is trying to legitimize the coup." In a joint statement, Ahmed Ould Daddah, Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, and Hamai Ould Meimou denounced what they called "prefabricated results." They are calling for the international community to investigate what they say were voting irregularities, including counting opposition ballots for Aziz. The opposition leaders are asking "competent bodies", including the country's constitutional council and Interior Ministry to not validate the results. Their joint statement is urging Mauritanians to mobilize to defeat what opposition leaders are calling an "electoral coup d'etat." During the campaign, Daddah said he was quiet when he says vote fraud denied him victory in presidential elections in 1991 and 2007. But he said this time he is not prepared to be silent if the election is stolen and told his supporters neither should they. Arab electoral observers monitored more than 300 of Mauritania's 2,500 polling stations. They saw irregularities including partisan electoral officials, security forces inside polling stations, and the denial of voters who registered after June 6th - most of whom support the opposition. But the group's preliminary report says it does not believe those irregularities will affect the overall outcome of the vote. Mohsen Marzouk is Secretary General of the Arab Democracy Foundation. Marzouk says Mauritania is a crucial point that will affect all its people. He called for political parties and official institutions to adhere strictly to democracy as the best way to solve the political crisis and promote stability and development. Arab observers say they will consider opposition complaints and include them in its final report. Boulkheir and Daddah had both publicly pledged to support the other in a potential run-off against Aziz if no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote. This election was meant to restore constitutional rule to Mauritania after Aziz led a coup 11 months ago that toppled the nation's first freely-elected leader. Aziz ran a populist campaign, calling himself the "Candidate of the Poor" pledging to improve access to health care while lowering food and fuel prices. To the cheers of his supporters, he vowed to build more jails to imprison his political opponents, who he says are corrupt. Aziz campaigned far longer than most of his opponents as he began running for a previously-scheduled June election that he agreed to postpone as part of a power-sharing deal that included the opposition dropping their electoral boycott.

Voters in Mauritania Prepare for Saturday Election

By Scott Stearns Nouakchott 17 July 2009

Supporters of Mauritania's former military leader Mohamed Ould Abedl Aziz attend a political rally in the southern city of Rosso, 17 Jul 2009

Voters in Mauritania go to the polls Saturday to choose a new president. It is an election to restore constitutional order following last year's military coup.

Friday is a day of reflection in Mauritania for voters to consider what they have heard from candidates over the past two weeks.

So what are people thinking?

This university student in the southern city of Rosso says former military leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is the right man to lead Mauritania because he is determined to fight corrupt politicians.

"I support him because President Aziz is a man of actions and thought," he said. "Most Mauritanian people support him because he came and tried to make dramatic change in this country, and we as people, we as poor people, we must go with him side-to-side and shoulder-to-shoulder."

Aziz led the coup last August that toppled Mauritania's first democratically-elected leader.

He refused African Union demands to restore civilian authority and changed the constitution to allow retired soldiers to run for office before resigning his commission to run for president.

Opposition candidate Ahmed Ould Daddah's campaign posters ask, "Do you want to be finished with coups d'etat?" Daddah is a former Central Bank Governor who says Mauritanians can end the cycle of coups and transitional governments in favor of a real democracy where decisions are made by voters not soldiers.

This Daddah supporter in the capital says Aziz is going to fall and break because of the electoral alliance between Daddah and opposition lawmaker Messaoud Ould Boulkheir.

Dadah and Boulkheir have both vowed publicly to support the other in a potential runoff against Aziz. Boulkheir is a former president of the National Assembly who says this is a vote about defeating those who take power through military force.

This woman leaving Boulkheir's closing campaign rally says he is the one who will become president, God willing. She says he represents and supports all Mauritanians and is the one who can do things for the whole country.

More than 250 electoral observers from the Arab League and African Union are here to monitor Saturday's vote. Results are expected within 48 hours. If no one wins more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters will face-off in a second-round of balloting August 1.