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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Mauritania |
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Senatorial elections were held in Mauritania on 21 January 2007 and on 4 February 2007. [1] [2] There are 56 seats in the Senate. The senators were elected by 3,688 municipal councillors, [3] [4] except for three (who represent the Mauritanian diaspora) who were chosen by the elected senators. [1] [2]
Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa. It is the eleventh largest sovereign state in Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest.
The period for the deposit of candidacies ran from 12 December to midnight on 21 December 2006. [5] 187 candidate lists were filed, including 133 for independents and 54 for parties or coalitions. [4] 170 lists were cleared to participate: 118 for independents, 37 for parties and 15 for coalitions. The campaign for the election began at midnight on January 4 and continued through January 19. [6] [7]
38 seats were chosen in the first round; independents of the Al-Mithaq coalition won 23 seats, while the Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal, which had been the ruling party during the presidency of Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, only won 3 seats [1] and the opposition Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change (including the Rally of Democratic Forces) won 11 seats.
Al-Mithaq is the collective name for coalition of independents and parties associated with the former regime in Mauritania. Al-Mithaq won in the 19 November and 3 December 2006 National Assembly election 41 out of 95 seats and in the 21 January and 4 February 2007 Senate election 34 out of 56 seats.
The Democratic Republican Party for Renewal is a political party in Mauritania. Formerly known as the Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS),, the grouping has changed its identity and adjusted its political stance following the 2005 coup. Formerly supportive of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya and his pro-Israeli stance, the party has since denounced Taya's policies and the mid-2006 Israeli military campaign in Lebanon.
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya is a Mauritanian military officer who served as the president of Mauritania from 1984 to 2005. Having come to power through a military coup, he was ousted by a military coup himself in 2005. Prior to his presidency, he was the 5th Prime Minister of Mauritania.
Of the 15 seats decided in the second round, eleven were won by Al-Mithaq independents and four by the CFCD. This resulted in the following totals: [1] [8]
| Parties | 1st round | 2nd round | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| Al-Mithaq (moderate Islamist independents) | 2,258 | 63.14 | 23 | 1,081 | 69.79 | 11 | 34 | |
| Rally of Democratic Forces (Regroupement des Forces Démocratiques) and allies | 365 | 10.21 | 5 | 98 | 6.33 | 1 | 6 | |
| Rally of Democratic Forces–Union of Forces of Progress (RFD-UFP) | 76 | 4.91 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal (Parti Républicain Démocratique et Renouvellement) | 231 | 6.46 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Union of Forces of Progress (Union des Forces du Progrès) | 129 | 3.61 | 1 | 29 | 1.87 | 0 | 1 | |
| Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change (Coalition des Forces de Changements) | 83 | 2.32 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Mauritanian Party of Union and Change (Parti mauritanien de l'union et du changement/HATEM) and allies | 31 | 0.87 | 1 | 103 | 6.65 | 2 | 3 | |
| Union for Democracy and Progress (Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès) and allies | 28 | 0.78 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| People's Progressive Alliance (Alliance populaire progressiste) and allies | 12 | 0.34 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| representatives of the diaspora | 3 | |||||||
| Total | 3,137 | 100.0 | 38 | 1,387 | 100.0 | 15 | 56 | |
The vote for one seat was cancelled due to irregularities and planned to be held again later. Participation among the councillors who voted in the election was placed at 97.94%. [8] The three senators representing Mauritanians abroad were elected by the Senate on 9 June. [1]
Bâ Mamadou dit M'Baré, a Senator from Maghama, was elected as President of the Senate on April 26, 2007. 40 Senators voted for Bâ Mamadou dit M'Baré, while 11 voted for Ahmed Salem Ould Bakar, a Senator from Boutilimit. [9] The other seven members of the bureau of the Senate were elected later on the same day, with 41 votes in favor and 11 against. Néma Senator Hamma Ould Cheikh Saad Bouh was elected as First Vice-President, Rosso Senator Mohamed El Hacen Ould El Hadj was elected as Second Vice-President, and Tevragh Zeina Senator Rivaa Mint Ahmed Nalla was elected as Third Vice-President. [10]
Maghama is a town and commune in Mauritania.
Boutilimit lies 164 km south east of Mauritania's capital of Nouakchott. The town has been an important center of religious scholarship and training since its founding by an Islamic mystic and scholar in the 19th Century. Although desertification has sapped much of the community's economic energy, it remains the most important center of religious training in Mauritania. Its Qur'anic school is known for its library of manuscripts, set up by Shaykh Sidiyya "al-Kabir" (1774–1868), which is second only to the collection found in the ancient Mauritanian city of Chinguetti. A unique copy of a grammar by Averroes was recently found there.
Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around 16°37′0″N7°15′0″W at the eastern end of the Aoukar. It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma Department.
