2013 Mauritanian parliamentary election

2013 Mauritanian parliamentary election
	All 146 seats in the National Assembly ; 74 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.90% (0.48pp)
Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf ; Independent (UPR)	Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf ; Independent (UPR)

Last updated November 10, 2024

Parliamentary elections were held in Mauritania on 23 November. The opposition has vowed to boycott the election unless the president steps down beforehand.^[1] A total of 1,096 candidates have registered to compete for the leadership of 218 local councils across Mauritania, whilst 438 candidates are contesting for the 146 parliamentary seats. Some 1.2 million Mauritanians were eligible to vote in the election.^[2] The first round results yielded a landslide victory for the ruling UPR winning 56 seats and their 14 coalition partners winning 34 seats. The Islamist Tewassoul party won 12 seats. The remaining seats were contested in a runoff on 21 December 2013.^[3] The UPR won the majority with 75 seats in the Assembly.^[4]

Background

The elections were originally set for 1 October 2011, then delayed several times to 16 October 2011, 31 March 2012, May 2012, October 2013 and November/December 2013, due to continuous disputes between the government and opposition parties.^[5]

Electoral system

The 146 members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods (with Mauritanians being able to cast three different votes in a parallel voting system); 106 are elected from single- or multi-member electoral districts based on the departments (or moughataas) that the country is subdivided in (with the exception of Nouakchott, with the nine departments of the city being treated as a single 18-seat electoral district) using either the two-round system or proportional representation; in single-member constituencies candidates require a majority of the vote to be elected in the first round and a plurality in the second round. In two-seat constituencies, voters vote for a party list (which must contain one man and one woman); if no list receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held, with the winning party taking both seats. In constituencies with three or more seats, closed list proportional representation is used, with seats allocated using the largest remainder method.^[6] For three-seat constituencies, party lists must include a female candidate in first or second on the list; for larger constituencies a zipper system is used, with alternate male and female candidates.^[6]

The other 40 seats are elected from a single nationwide constituency, also using closed list proportional representation, with half elected on a newly introduced separate list reserved for women.^[6]

Contesting parties

A total of 74 parties took part.^[7] Tewassoul was the only member of the 11 party opposition alliance known as the Coordination of the Democratic Opposition (COD) to take part.^[7] The COD's boycott had been criticised by the ruling UPR, with Ould Mohamed Lemine saying such action was unjustifiable "in view of the political and electoral reforms accomplished."^[8]

The main contestants are seen to be the UPR, Tewassoul, and the People's Progressive Alliance.^[7]

Campaign

The two-week campaign period began on Friday 8 November. The beginning of the campaign was greeted with fireworks, car honking, and loud music in the streets, in the capital of Nouakchott.^[8]

Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamed Lemine called for Mauritanians to give the Union for the Republic a majority in parliament so that they could support the program of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.^[2] The UPR is also the only party fielding a contestant in every constituency.^[7] The UPR has also criticized Tewassoul for its links to the Muslim Brotherhood, and has called for the movement to dissociate itself from Islamists elsewhere.^[7]

Tewassoul has described its participation as a struggle against what it deems the dictatorship of President Mohamed Oul Abdel Aziz,^[7] and Party President Mohamed Jemil Ould Mansour has called for a huge turnout by Tewassoul supporters.^[8]

Thousands of supporters of the COD marched in Nouakchott on 6 November to protest against the election.^[8]

Results

President Ould Abdel Aziz's party, the Union for the Republic (UPR), secured a one-seat majority in its first ever election; while the Islamist National Rally for Reform and Development secured 16 seats, becoming the second largest political force in Mauritania and leading the opposition.

Party	National PR seats			Women's seats			Constituency seats						Total seats
	National PR seats			Women's seats			First round			Second round
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Union for the Republic	127,580	21.34	4	138,651	24.74	5	299,605	39.21	44	124,656	55.11	22	75
Tewassoul	81,744	13.68	3	88,014	15.70	3	102,404	13.4	6	31,103	13.75	4	16
People's Progressive Alliance	44,700	7.48	2	53,610	9.57	2	55,874	7.31	3	9,987	4.42	0	7
Burst of Youth for the Nation	25,706	4.3	1	34,850	6.22	1	54,857	7.18	2	12,934	5.72	0	4
El Wiam	22,888	3.83	1	32,142	5.74	1	59,847	7.83	6	11,369	5.03	2	10
Union for Democracy and Progress	20,470	3.42	1	25,539	4.56	1	25,828	3.38	4	8,458	3.74	0	6
APJD/MPR	15,577	2.61	1	18,029	3.22	1	13,068	1.71	2	–	–	–	4
El Karam	15,193	2.54	1	21,649	3.86	1	25,922	3.39	4	5,002	2.21	0	6
El Vadila	13,893	2.32	1	14,026	2.50	1	8,915	1.17	1	–	–	–	3
Party of Unity and Development	13,748	2.30	1	17,311	3.09	1	23,153	3.03	1	14,752	6.52	0	3
Party of Mauritanian Authenticity	11,072	1.85	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Socialist Democratic Unionist Party	9,551	1.60	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Ravah Party	8,378	1.40	1	9,091	1.62	1	4,752	0.62	1	–	–	–	3
Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal	8,367	1.40	1	14,170	2.53	1	5,082	0.67	1	–	–	–	3
Democratic Justice Party	8,286	1.39	0	8,691	1.55	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Sawab	7,180	1.20	0	7,699	1.37	0	6,648	0.87	0	–	–	–	0
Dignity and Action Party	6,385	1.07	0	5,464	0.97	0	3,645	0.48	1	–	–	–	1
National El Inma Party	6,073	1.02	0	4,302	0.77	0	1,964	0.26	0	–	–	–	0
Democratic Renovation	6,002	1.00	0	8,216	1.47	0	5,105	0.67	0	–	–	–	0
People's Rally Party	5,169	0.86	0	–	–	–	846	0.11	0	–	–	–	0
Popular Front	5,123	0.86	0	–	–	–	2,879	0.38	0	–	–	–	0
Democratic Social Union Party	5,108	0.85	0	6,398	1.14	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Partie Congre de Mauritanie	4,860	0.81	0	4,820	0.86	0	1,414	0.19	0	–	–	–	0
Democratic Socialist Party	4,819	0.81	0	–	–	–	62	0.01	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Hope Party	4,766	0.80	0	6,134	1.09	0	1,571	0.21	0	–	–	–	0
PMRC	4,615	0.77	0	4,196	0.75	0	1,261	0.17	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Party for Renewal	4,172	0.70	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
RNLDE Party	4,073	0.68	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Democratic Peace and Progress Party	4,059	0.68	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Shura Party for Development	4,000	0.67	0	–	–	–	821	0.11	0	–	–	–	0
Democratic People's Party	3,969	0.66	0	–	–	–	2,072	0.27	1	–	–	–	1
El Islah	3,885	0.66	0	3,853	0.69	0	2,663	0.35	1	–	–	–	1
Rally for Equality Party	3,703	0.62	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
People's Democratic Party	3,600	0.60	0	–	–	–	761	0.10	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Liberal Democratic Party	3,459	0.58	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Rally for Unity Party	3,385	0.57	0	2,856	0.51	0	2,629	0.34	0	–	–	–	0
National Agreement Party	3,296	0.55	0	–	–	–	464	0.06	0	–	–	–	0
Parti RibatDémocratique et Social	3,107	0.51	0	7,490	1.34	0	2,805	0.37	0	–	–	–	0
PMC and CPR Coalition	3,057	0.51	0	6,333	1.13	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
National Union for Democracy and Development	3,031	0.51	0	–	–	–	447	0.06	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian People's Movement Party	2,865	0.48	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Democratic Consultation Party	2,861	0.48	0	4,663	0.83	0	1,832	0.24	0	–	–	–	0
Dialogue and Democracy Party	2,789	0.47	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Equity and Defence of Right Party	2,781	0.47	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Union for the Construction of Mauritania	2,707	0.45	0	4,588	0.82	0	1,104	0.14	0	–	–	–	0
Third Generation Party	2,623	0.44	0	–	–	–	1,381	0.18	0	–	–	–	0
Democratic Union of Youth	2,602	0.44	0	–	–	–	706	0.09	0	–	–	–	0
Civilisation and Development Party	2,490	0.42	0	3,478	0.62	0	1,764	0.23	0	–	–	–	0
Alliance for Democracy in Mauritania	2,479	0.41	0	–	–	–	1,817	0.24	0	–	–	–	0
National Democratic Union	2,307	0.41	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Direct Democracy Union	2,266	0.38	0	–	–	–	1,756	0.23	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Party for Reform and Equality	2,163	0.36	0	–	–	–	662	0.09	0	–	–	–	0
Union of the Democratic Center	2,123	0.36	0	–	–	–	506	0.07	0	–	–	–	0
Party of Labour and Equality	1,943	0.33	0	–	–	–	1,306	0.17	0	–	–	–	0
New Vision Party	1,581	0.26	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Party for Democracy and Prosperity	1,547	0.26	0	–	–	–	191	0.02	0	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Party for Justice and Democracy	1,345	0.23	0	4,172	0.74	0	614	0.08	0	–	–	–	0
Coalition of Mauritanians for the Fatherland	1,117	0.19	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Mauritanian Party for Justice and Development	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,234	0.16	0	–	–	–	0
Party for a Contemporary Mauritania	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,167	0.15	0	–	–	–	0
Union of Social Forces	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,006	0.13	0	–	–	–	0
Rally of National Youth	–	–	–	–	–	–	925	0.12	0	–	–	–	0
Generation of a Democratic Future Party	–	–	–	–	–	–	681	0.09	0	–	–	–	0
Social Democratic Party	–	–	–	–	–	–	50	0.01	0	–	–	–	0
Wava Mauritanian Party	–	–	–	–	–	–	35	0.00	0	–	–	–	0
Coalitions	–	–	–	–	–	–	28,045	3.67	0	7,943	3.51	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	300,005	–	–	288,476	–	–	130,264	–	–	17,794	–	–	–
Total	878,693	100	20	848,911	100	20	894,410	100	78	243,998	100	28	146
Registered voters/turnout	1,189,105	73.90	–	1,189,105	71.39	–	1,179,384	75.84	–	311,940	78.22	–	–
Source: CENI

Aftermath

Following the first round of voting, on 23 November, Tewassoul president Jemil Ould Mansour claimed at a party news conference that the party had found "serious irregularities" including ballot stuffing and voting being carried out after the count. Mansour claimed these irregularities could discredit the election, and stated that the party had sent a delegation to the electoral commission to complain. He did not say which parties he believed to have benefited from the alleged irregularities.^[9]

Related Research Articles

Mauritania is a presidential democracy, but has suffered from repeated military coups since its Independence in November 1960. For 18 years after independence, Mauritania was a one-party state under Moktar Ould Daddah. This was followed by decades of military rule. The first fully democratic presidential election in Mauritania occurred on 11 March 2007, which marked a transfer from military to civilian rule following the military coup in 2005. The election was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was ousted by another military coup in 2008 and replaced by general Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Mauretania underwent its first peaceful transition of power after the 2019 presidential election, although this was between two presidents of the ruling UPR party and former army generals.

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 11 March 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.

Ahmed Ould Daddah is a Mauritanian economist and a politician. He is a half-brother of Moktar Ould Daddah, the first President of Mauritania, and belongs to the Marabout Ouled Birri tribe. He is currently the President of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) and was designated as the official Leader of the opposition following the 2007 presidential election, in which he placed second.

Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was a Mauritanian politician who was President of Mauritania from 2007 to 2008. He served in the government during the 1970s, and after a long period of absence from politics he won the March 2007 presidential election, taking office on 19 April 2007. He was deposed in a military coup d'état on 6 August 2008.

In December 1984, Haidallah was deposed by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who, while retaining tight military control, relaxed the political climate. Ould Taya moderated Mauritania's previous pro-Algerian stance, and re-established ties with Morocco during the late 1980s. He deepened these ties during the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of Mauritania's drive to attract support from Western states and Western-aligned Arab states. Mauritania has not rescinded its recognition of Polisario's Western Saharan exile government and remains on good terms with Algeria. Its position on the Western Sahara conflict has been, since the 1980s, one of strict neutrality.

The 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état was a military coup that took place in Mauritania on August 6, 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was ousted from power by the Armed Forces of Mauritania, led by a group of high-ranking generals he had dismissed from office earlier that day.

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is a retired Mauritanian military officer and politician who served as the 8th President of Mauritania from 2009 to 2019.

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 18 July 2009. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who led the 2008 coup d'état, won a narrow first-round majority in the election, according to official results. A second round, if necessary, would have been held on 1 August 2009.

The National Rally for Reform and Development, often known by its shortened Arabic name Tewassoul or by the abbreviation of its French name (RNRD), is an Islamist political party in Mauritania. The party is associated with the Mauritanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Union for the Republic was a political party in Mauritania. The party was formed on 5 May 2009 by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz after he resigned from the military, to run for President of Mauritania. Aziz resigned as chairman of the party on 2 August 2009 after winning the presidential election, as the President of Mauritania cannot be a member of any party. The party also won 13 of the 17 seats up for re-election to the Mauritanian Senate in 2009, giving the UPR control of a total of 38 of the 53 Senate seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Jemil Ould Mansour</span>

Mohamed Jemil Ould Mansour is a politician in Mauritania. Ould Mansour was a former President of the National Rally for Reform and Development party (Tewassoul) from 2007 to 2017.

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 21 June 2014, with a second round planned for 5 July if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. The result was a first round victory for incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Union for the Republic, who received 82% of the vote. Most of the opposition parties boycotted the election.

El Wiam was a centrist political party in Mauritania led by former minister Boydiel Ould Houmeid. It was made up mainly of officials from the government of President Maaouya Ould Taya.

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 22 June 2019, with a second round planned for 6 July if no candidate had received more than 50% of the vote. The result was a first round victory for Mohamed Ould Ghazouani who won with 52 percent of the vote. However, opposition rejected the results, calling it "another army coup." On 1 July 2019, Mauritania's constitutional council confirmed Ghazouani as president and rejected a challenge by the opposition.

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani, also known as Ghazouani and Ould Ghazouani, is a Mauritanian politician and retired army general who has served as the 9th President of Mauritania since 2019, and the chairperson of the African Union since February 2024.

Parliamentary elections were held in Mauritania on 13 and 27 May 2023, alongside regional and local elections.

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 29 June 2024. Incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won re-election for his second and final term as president, increasing his vote share by four points.

Regional elections were held on 1 September 2018, with a second round on 15 September 2018, to elect the 37 members of the newly-formed Regional Council of Nouakchott, created after the 2017 Mauritanian constitutional referendum in replacement of the Senate and the Urban Community of Nouakchott. They were part of the 2018 Mauritanian regional elections.

Regional elections were held on 13 May 2023 to elect the 37 members of the Regional Council of Nouakchott, as part of the 2023 Mauritanian regional elections.

References

↑ "Mauritania calls elections for October 12". AFP. Noukachott: Fox News. 3 August 2013.
1 2 "Mauritania - Campaign for 147 Legislative Seats Underway". all Africa. 11 November 2013.
↑ "Mauritania ruling party stays on top". 6 December 2013.
↑ "Mauritania's ruling party wins legislative polls". 22 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
↑ "Mauritania: Parliamentary and local elections postponed indefinitely". AFP. Noukachott. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013.
1 2 3 Electoral system IPU
1 2 3 4 5 6 Ould Sadi, Hademine (21 November 2013). "Sink or swim for Mauritania's Islamists". IOL News.
1 2 3 4 "Mauritania election campaign underway despite opposition boycott". AFP. Nouakchott: Yahoo News. 8 November 2013.
↑ "Mauritania election 'marred by ballot-stuffing'". Agence France-Presse. Global Post. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Mauritania calls elections for October 12". AFP. Noukachott: Fox News. 3 August 2013.

[all_Africa-2] 1 2 "Mauritania - Campaign for 147 Legislative Seats Underway". all Africa. 11 November 2013.

[3] "Mauritania ruling party stays on top". 6 December 2013.

[4] "Mauritania's ruling party wins legislative polls". 22 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.

[5] "Mauritania: Parliamentary and local elections postponed indefinitely". AFP. Noukachott. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013.

[IPU-6] 1 2 3 Electoral system IPU

[Islamist-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ould Sadi, Hademine (21 November 2013). "Sink or swim for Mauritania's Islamists". IOL News.

[Yahoo-8] 1 2 3 4 "Mauritania election campaign underway despite opposition boycott". AFP. Nouakchott: Yahoo News. 8 November 2013.

[Global_Post_25_Nov-9] "Mauritania election 'marred by ballot-stuffing'". Agence France-Presse. Global Post. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e Elections and referendums in Mauritania
Presidential elections	1961 1966 1971 1976 1992 1997 2003 2007 2009 2014 2019 2024
Parliamentary elections	1946 1952 1957 1959 1965 1971 1975 1992 1996 2001 2006 2013 2018 2023 Next
Local elections	1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2013 2018 2023
Regional elections	2018 2023
French elections	1945 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Nov) 1951 1956
Referendums	1945 1946 (May) 1946 (Oct) 1958 1991 2006 2017