Mauritania Presidential Polls
March 5th, 2007A Mauritanian presidential election is scheduled for 11 March 2007.
This follows 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 is planned to mark the end of military rule.
21 candidates have registered to run for president of which 19 were approved to contest the election. Ahmed Ould Daddah, the leader of the Rally of Democratic Forces—part of the Coalition of Forces for Democratic Change, which took a large portion of seats in the November-December 2006 parliamentary election—is a candidate. 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, 2006. Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, a leader of the failed 2003 coup attempt against Taya, announced his candidacy on January 14, 2007. Other candidates include Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, Mohamed Ould Maouloud, and Sarr Ibrahima.