Parliamentary elections were held in Mauritania on 13 and 27 May 2023, alongside regional and local elections.[1][2]
The elections were the first parliamentary elections held after the first peaceful transition of power in the country as a result of the 2019 presidential elections, in which Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was elected president after incumbent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was not able to run due to the two-term constitutional limit.
Ruling El Insaf (Equity Party) managed to secure a majority in the National Assembly and increase its national list vote percentage, in part due to the smaller number of parties contesting this election. The party was forced into several runoffs and didn't sweep into all constituencies elected through a general ticket as in 2018. The opposition was completely restructured, with left-wing Union of the Forces of Progress, centre-left Rally of Democratic Forces and Haratine minority interests People's Progressive Alliance losing all of their seats in the National Assembly, with left-leaning Hope Mauritania replacing them as the hegemonic left-wing opposition.
After the elections, 76 parties from both the presidential majority and opposition camps were dissolved for not obtaining more than 1% or not participating in two consecutive local elections, based on an election law passed the year before, with only 28 parties left registered.[5][6][7]
Mohamed Ould Ghazouani from the UPR was elected president in the 2019 presidential elections, leading to the first peaceful transition of power in the country. Ghazouani quickly distanced himself from outgoing president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a divide that was made effective when Sidi Mohamed Ould Taleb Omar was elected president of the UPR, with Ould Abdel Aziz leaving the party. Ould Abdel Aziz was subsequently charged with "corruption, money laundering, illicit enrichment and abuse of influence" by the Public Prosecutor in March 2021 and referred to court in June 2022.[8] He had been jailed in June 2021,[9] until a bail was granted in January 2022 over health concerns.[10]
After the split between Ghazouani and Aziz, the parties of the presidential majority reaffirmed their support to Ghazouani when creating the Coordination of Parties of the Majority in April 2021, as the new alliance gathering the parties of the presidential majority heavily criticised the legacy of the former president.[11]
During the legislative term there were several cabinet reshuffles, the first one due to ministers appearing in papers from a parliamentary commission investigating corruption during the Aziz era, leading to the fall of Ismail Ould Bedde Ould Cheikh Sidiya's government in August 2020 and Mohamed Ould Bilal becoming the new PM.[16] The second one was in May 2021 to restructure several ministries.[17][18] The third one was in March–April 2022 after the resignation of Prime MinisterMohamed Ould Bilal, who was re-appointed the following day with a new cabinet.[19] The fourth and fifth ones were in September 2022, the first due to the government wanting to fit in former PM Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf since he was seen as more capable of negotiating with the opposition and helping the government win the next elections,[20][21] with the second one happening two weeks later.[22]
On 26 September 2022 an agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation and all political parties registered in Mauritania was reached to renew the Independent National Electoral Commission and hold the elections in the first semester of 2023, with parties justifying it due to climatic and logistical conditions.[23][24]
Electoral system
The signing ceremony of the final document of the consultation between the parties and the Ministry of Interior
On 26 September 2022 all Mauritanian political parties reached an agreement sponsored by the Ministry of Interior and Decentralisation to reform the election system ahead of the upcoming elections after weeks of meetings between all parties.[24]
The 176 members (an increase of 17 members compared to 2018) of the National Assembly will be elected by two methods (with Mauritanians being able to cast four different votes in a parallel voting system); 125 are elected from single- or multi-member electoral districts based on the departments (or moughataas) that the country is subdivided in[b] (which the exception of Nouakchott, which has been divided in three 7-seat constituencies for this election based on the three regions (or wilayas) the city is subdivided in instead of the single 18-seat constituency that was used in 2018),[24] 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 listproportional representation is used, with seats allocated using the largest remainder method.[26] 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.[26]
The Mauritanian diaspora gets allocated four seats, with this election being the first time Mauritanians in the diaspora are able to directly elect their representatives.[24]
The remaining 51 seats are elected from three nationwide constituencies, also using closed list proportional representation: a 20-seat national list (which uses a zipper system), a 20-seat women's national list and a new 11-seat youth list (with two reserved for people with special needs), which also uses a zipper system to guarantee the representation of women.[24][26]
"One vote" system
In November 2022 President Ould Ghazouani called the parties supporting him to support the introduction of a single ballot system in the election, reducing the number of ballots from four to one.[27] It has been suggested that Ghazouani started to further push for this reform after ex-president Ould Abdel Aziz starting working on his election strategy, as the ruling party wants to ensure a victory in the upcoming elections.[28]
Political analyst Abdellahi Ould Mohamed Lemine told Maghreb Voices that he believes that adopting this option in voting will cancel the current method of election, which relies on ability of voters in choosing different parties per ballot (national lists and constituency), and that such reform would benefit the largest parties, especially El Insaf, which is capable of fielding candidates in all constituencies. This reform would also open the door to further disputes between the government and the opposition, which strongly opposed this method.[28]
Tewassoul called on political parties to coordinate to stand up to "the circumvention of the agreement", expressing their surprised at "the recent confusion about issues that were decided by the agreement", in reference to the "one vote" system. The party's spokesperson, Salek Ould Sidi Mahmoud, affirmed that he considers the issue as "an indication that does not encourage confidence in the government's commitment to the [election reform] agreement" and said that "the proposal to unify the card was put forward under the pretext of reducing the void cards, but it is a fact that greatly limits the voter's freedom of choice".[29]
On 16 February 2023, the National Independent Election Commission and the political parties agreed to ditch the idea of a unified ballot, deciding to keep the ballot design as it was.[30]
Parliamentary composition
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber when the National Assembly was dissolved on 13 March 2023.[6][7][31]
In July 2022 the UPR rebranded itself as the Equity Party (El Insaf), electing Minister of Education and government spokesperson Mohamed Melainine Ould Eyih as president of the party,[36] with him leaving the cabinet shortly after to focus on leading the party.[37]
On 22 December 2022, Hope Mauritania was presented as a left-leaning opposition alliance which was joined by several major politicians, including ex-MP Kadiata Malick Diallo (ex-UFP) and MPs Mohamed Lemine Ould Sidi Maouloud (ex-Choura) and Elid Ould Mohameden (RFD).[39][40]
Private TV channel El Mourabitoun organised several television debates for candidates and representatives of major parties to talk about the election and its campaign and to debate about electoral issues.
Polling stations opened at 7AM local time (GMT).[50] Armed and security forces voted on the same day as the rest of eligible voters, breaking an old tradition of them voting the day before the scrutiny.[51] An election observation mission was sent by the African Union.[52]
Voting was stopped on at least three polling stations in Magta Lahjar after a grievance was submitted by El Insaf due to ballots missing for the local elections in these polling stations.[53]
Tewassoul asked for voting to be stopped in four polling stations in a village of Boutilimit and the dismissal of the head of the National Independent Election Commission (CENI) in the department of Boutlimit. In a statement, the party said it was "surprised" by the replacement of the heads of the four offices, "after the spread of audio clips of the head of CENI's branch in Boutilimit, directed by some of the activists and leaders of El Insaf in the department". The party pointed out that "under these suspicious changes, the head of El Insaf's youth wing in Boutilimit was appointed head of one of the four polling stations, while the remaining three appointed are activists known for their relations with the leadership of El Insaf and influential military figures, unlike the heads of the polling stations who remained accredited until yesterday [12 May] afternoon".[54]
Polling stations closed at 7PM local time, with polling stations that opened late being opened for the same duration of the delay. Both parties in government and opposition parties complained about the voting process, with Tewassoul's leader qualifying the election as "messy" and "disorganised"; while El Insaf also insisted on them being affected by the delays and some of their representatives being prevented from entering polling stations.[55] Meanwhile, the National Independent Election Commission praised the election for being conducted in a "calm and responsible atmosphere", insisting that there were no significant incidents that could impact the results or the credibility of the election.[56]
CENI announced during the scrutiny of votes that it detected the manipulation of the results of the El Mina department of Nouakchott where some votes were transferred from the null and neutral cards to a particular candidate, confirming that the matter had been corrected, and judicial procedures had taken its course after a candidate complained about the results and an inner investigation was launched.[57]
El Insaf secured a majority in the National Assembly and increased its national list vote percentage, in part due to the smaller number of parties contesting this election.[61] The party was forced into several runoffs and did not sweep into all constituencies elected through a general ticket as in 2018. The opposition saw a complete restructuring, with the left-wing UFP, the centre-left RFD and the APP, which represents Haratine interests, losing all of their seats in the National Assembly, with the left-leaning Hope Mauritania replaced them as the hegemonic left-wing opposition.[62]
Hope Mauritania endorsed the rest of opposition parties qualified in the runoff (Tewassoul, Sawab+, AJD/MR+).[63]
President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani welcomed the results.[61]
Accusations of election fraud
The opposition called for elections to be repeated in Nouakchott and Boutilimit due to "massive fraud", calling for nationwide protests on 25 May.[64][65] The opposition also announced their intention to form a committee to jointly file appeals on the election results and warned that the "current electoral crisis", if not dealt with wisely and quickly in a consultative framework, would turn into a political one.[66]
On the other side, parties belonging to the Coordination of Parties of the Majority, supportive of President Ghazouani, and other unaligned parties signed a petition demanding the immediate halt of the counting process and a complete repeat election nationwide due to the alleged "violations" the parties monitored and that "have characterized all the course of this process, from the first moments of the electoral census".[67]
Arrest of Biram Dah Abeid
Leader of the Democratic Alternation Coalition and re-elected deputy for Sawab+Biram Dah Abeid was arrested on 24 May[68] after he declared that if the results of the elections are accepted, then "the free Mauritanians will carry weapons against the current regime" during a political rally the day before. He also said in his speech that he was "committed to peace" but that he "wouldn't lie to the Mauritanian people" and that "election fraud was the reason the army couped former president Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya".[69]
A protest was held in front of the Security Department by members and supporters of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, which Dah Abeid heads.[74] The protest saw the arrest of another elected deputy (Aminetou El Hacen Boughel, elected on the youth national list for Sawab+), Dah Abeid's wife and a number of activists and protestors.[75]
Sawab's leader and his deputy were allowed to visit Dah Abeid during his arrest in a police station in Dar Naïm, while his wife and his lawyesrs denounced that they weren't allowed to visit him.[76][77]
The spokesperson of the Mauritanian government justified Dah Abeid's arrest saying that his words "crossed a line" and that "no one is above the law, everyone is equal before the law, and the government's task is to apply the law equally to everyone".[78]
Biram Dah Abeid was released after two days of arrest on 26 May, with him returning to his house in Riyadh, Nouakchott. He declared after his release that he expected to be detained until after the 2024 presidential election as part of an operation to "prevent a peaceful transfer of power" and that his arrest was done to thwart or disrupt the opposition rally held on 25 May. He said that he would continue to "fight peacefully" but that he was not going to stop from "alerting Mauritanians of the risks facing the country".[79]
Election of the President of the National Assembly
Five political parties were legally deregistered on 19 October 2023 after failing to obtain 1% in two consecutive local elections.[81] The parties were:
^Mohamed Melainine Ould Eyih was the party leader, but Ould Meguett led the national list and was ultimately elected President of the National Assembly.
^Six new departments were created in September 2021, which have led to an increase in seats representing them.[24][25]
^"Remaniement partiel du Gouvernement" [Partial reshuffle of the government]. AMI (Mauritanian News Agency) (in French). 26 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
^""تواصل" يدعو الأحزاب للتنسيق في وجه الالتفاف على الاتفاق" ["Tewassoul" calls on the parties to coordinate in the face of circumvention of the [election reform] agreement]. AlAkhbar.info (in Arabic). 19 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
^"البرلمان.. فريق معارض جديد يقوده "ولد حرمه"" [Parliament... a new opposition parliametary group led by "Ould Horma"]. SaharaMedias (in Arabic). 26 June 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
^المشهد الانتخابي: حزب الإنصاف الحاكم وحزب تواصل المعارض [The Electoral Scene: The ruling party El Insaf and the opposition party Tewassoul] (Television broadcast) (in Arabic). El Mourabitoun. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^المشهد الانتخابي: حزب الكرامة وحزب اتحاد قوى التقدم [The Electoral Scene: El Karama and the Union of the Forces of Progress] (Television broadcast) (in Arabic). El Mourabitoun. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^"تواصل يطالب بإلغاء نتائج 4 مكاتب بمقاطعة بوتلميت" [Tewassoul demands the cancellation of the results of 4 polling stations in the department of Boutilimit]. AlAkhbar.info (in Arabic). 13 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
^"الشرطة توقف زوجة ولد اعبيدي وعددا من أنصاره" [The police arrests the wife of Ould Abeid and a number of his supporters]. AlAkhbar.info (in Arabic). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
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