Presidential elections were held in

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

on 12 December 1997. Incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya ( ar, معاوية ولد سيد أحمد الطايع, Ma‘āwiyah wuld Sīdi Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭāya‘ / Mu'awiya walad Sayyidi Ahmad Taya; born 28 November 1941) is a Mauritanian military officer who served as the ...

won the election with 90% of the vote. Voter turnout was 75%.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p597, 599

Background

President Ould Taya came to power in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in 1984 and ruled Mauritania as

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

for the next seven years. Under the 1991

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

multi-party democracy In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

was introduced with Taya being elected with 62% of the vote in the 1992 presidential election. However the opposition alleged that the 1992 election had been fraudulent and the main opposition groups in Mauritania

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

ed the 1997 election as they said it would not be a fair contest with, for instance, the

electoral commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

not being independent.

Candidates

The campaign began on 27 November with President Ould Taya the clear favourite. Ould Taya focused on the performance of the economy and reinforcing democracy during his campaign. Ould Taya was backed by the Mouvance Presidentielle, which included the Rally for Democracy and Unity (RDU) and a faction of the Union of Democratic Forces. Four candidates challenged Ould Taya including, Kane Amadou Moctar, the first

black African Black is a Racialization, racialized classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have ...

to run for president in a country that had been dominated politically by

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

since independence. Moctar was a former hospital administrator who pledged to oppose

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and establish a new policy of fisheries. Chbih Ould Cheikh Malainine was a former cabinet minister who had quit the RDU to form his own party and campaigned to eliminate slavery. Moulaye El Hacen Ould Jeid was the secretary general of the

Mauritanian Party for Renewal and Concord Mauritanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mauritania, a country in northwest Africa * A person from Mauritania, or of Mauritanian descent. For information about the Mauritanian people, see Demographics of Mauritania. * Note t ...

and in his campaign called for

press censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

to be ended. Lastly Mohammed Mahmoud Ould Mah was the secretary general of the

Popular Social and Democratic Union Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the t ...

. He had contested the 1992 election and pledged to renegotiate agreements with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

if he was elected.

Results

President Ould Taya won the elections with official figures showing a turnout of around 74%, however the opposition claimed that their boycott had been successful and did not accept the official results.

Voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

in the capital

Nouakchott , image_skyline = Nouakchott.jpg , image_caption = City view of Nouakchott , pushpin_map = Mauritania#Arab world#Africa , pushpin_relief = 1 , mapsize = , map_caption ...

and the second city

Nouadhibou Nouadhibou (; ar, نواذيبو, Nwādībū, Berber: Nwadibu, formerly in French: ) is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial centre. The city itself has about 118,000 inhabitants expanding to over 140,000 in the l ...

was low but turnout was reported by the government to be higher elsewhere in the country. Ould Taya won just over 90% of the vote, with the former minister Chbih Ould Cheikh Malainine coming second with 7%.

By wilaya

References

{{Mauritanian elections

Presidential elections in Mauritania