Mauritania
Mauritania exhibits low-range performance in the Rights, Representation, and Rule of Law categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, while exhibiting mid-range performance in Participation. It is among the world’s bottom 25 per cent of countries across the majority of factors of democratic performance. A relatively stable political environment during the last five years has yielded advances in both Effective Parliament and Personal Integrity and Security. With vast expanses of uninhabitable land, Mauritania is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Such harsh conditions have also rendered the country’s agriculture-driven economy highly sensitive to shocks (and climate change) – with sometimes devastating impacts.
Mauritania became a French colony in 1903, and the colonial project was marked by military domination and a heavy tax burden on the population. It subsequently became the poorest territory of French West Africa. Mauritania gained independence in 1960, and its post-colonial history has featured an almost perpetual pattern of coups. The highly militarized and hyper-presidentialist political system continues to struggle to address a number of pressing problems, including: insecurity close to its border with Mali, the enduring practice of hereditary slavery, ethnic tensions, and severe poverty.
Mauritania’s relentless string of coups has been accompanied by the almost permanent state of de facto military rule – making the military one of the most powerful political actors. The military has been unwilling to depoliticize – and, while elections have been the norm (instead of coups) since 2009, leadership has been unable to address structural tensions between the country’s three major ethnic groups. The first group is the Bidhân, who have monopolized the most significant state institutions and whose intra-group competition and cooperation remains a key factor in politics. The second group, the Haratines, comprise the descendants of enslaved black Africans. The marginalization of the Haratine, including through forms of enslavement, is a major thorn in the country, and the emergence of the Haratines as a potent political force is one of the most significant developments in recent years. The third category includes non-Arabic speaking groups, whose assertion of cultural identities raises issues of language, land tenure, and education policies. The partition of these groups’ claims along ethnic lines has made it difficult to find any common ground with respect to prominent issues such as the intersection of Islam and politics within the country, corruption, and relations with Mali.
Mauritania is among the world’s bottom 25 per cent with regard to performance on Gender Equality, but recent progress includes an electoral gender quota and legislation prohibiting harmful practices. Yet, patriarchal oppression and socio-economic constraints continue, while female genital mutilation and child marriage persist despite progress made through legislation.
Following the recent re-election of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, it will be important to monitor whether Mauritania continues its progress towards a more pluralistic political system (Free Political Parties). In this regard, it will be particularly important to watch the government’s treatment of the anti-slavery movements, which today represent the main opposition. The second area to watch relates to Rule of Law and the country’s management of independent political institutions more broadly. While at least in part politically motivated, the conviction of a former president in an anti-corruption court sets an important precedent in terms of accountability in the highest office.
Last updated: July 2024
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
June 2024
Incumbent Ghazouani wins presidential election
Mauritania’s presidential election was held on 30 June and was won by incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani. According to the results released by the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Ghazouani secured a second term with 56.12 per cent of the vote. The former army chief of staff and defense minister faced six challengers in the election, none of whom were women. Ghazouani’s main opponent, anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid, received 22.10 per cent of the vote, while Hamadi Ould Sid’ El Moctar, who heads the Islamist Tawassoul party, came third with 12.78 per cent. The result was rejected by Abeid, who alleged fraud and irregularities and announced that he had filed an appeal at the Constitutional Council. Voter turnout was reported by CENI to be 55.39 per cent of the registered voters, down from 62.66 per cent in 2019. International observers from the African Union reported the elections were held without any major incidents.
Sources: Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Jeune Afrique, Al Jazeera, BBC, Reuters, Le Monde, African Union, International IDEA
May 2023
Legislative elections return large majority for ruling party
Elections for representatives in the local, regional, and national legislative bodies were held in Mauritania on 13 and 27 May. At the national level, the party of the President (rebranded for this election as the Equity Party) won a strong majority with 107 of the 176 seats in the National Assembly. The legislature includes 20 seats elected through a special list for women, and with the addition of women who won seats in the general list and in single member districts, the new legislature will be 24.2 per cent women, which is almost unchanged from the previous legislature. The ruling party was also successful in the local and regional elections, winning control of all 13 regional councils and a majority of the local councils. However, six opposition parties have demanded that the results of the election from a number of locations (most notably in the capital of Nouakchott) be rejected due to what they have called ‘tampering’ with the vote. Turnout at the national level was 71.6 per cent of registered voters, very slightly down from the last election (72.5 per cent).
Sources: Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante, Radio France Internationale, Africa News, Middle East Monitor, Le Monde
February 2023
Human rights activist dies in police custody
Souvi Ould Jibril Ould Cheine, a well-known human rights activist and representative of the Haratine community (descendants of former slaves), was taken into police custody on the night of 9 February. He died in hospital hours later. An autopsy found that the cause of death was a neck fracture and strangulation, and his family has alleged that he was tortured. News of Chein’s death was met with large protests that were broken up by riot police. Eight people have been charged in connection with Chein’s death. Included among those charged are four security officials (including the police commissioner for the station where Chein was detained) who have been charged with crimes that include torture and premeditated murder. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has called upon the government of Mauritania to ensure that those responsible for his death are brought to justice.
Sources: Swissinfo, Siglo XXI, Peoples Dispatch, MauriWeb, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023
Basic Information
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Performance by category over the last 6 months
Representation
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Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
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