The Rally of Democratic Forces (french: Rassemblement des Forces Démocratiques, RFD), or Assembly of Democratic Forces, is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Mauritania. It is led by

Ahmed Ould Daddah Ahmed Ould Daddah ( ar, أحمد ولد داده, born 7 August 1942Marwane ben Yahmed"Les vérités d’Ahmed Ould Daddah", '' Jeuneafrique.com'', February 18, 2007 .) is a Mauritanian economist and a politician. He is a half-brother of Mokta ...

. In October 2000, the Union of Democratic Forces-New Era, which was led by Daddah, was dissolved by the government for allegedly inciting violence and harming the country's interests. In its place the Rally of Democratic Forces was established, and Daddah was elected its president in January 2002. In the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on October 19 and 26 October 2001, the party won 5.6% of the popular vote and 3 out of 81 seats. Daddah declared the RFD to be "the country's biggest political force" after the first round of the

2006 Mauritanian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Mauritania on 19 November, with a second round 3 December 2006. At least 28 political parties competed to comprise the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly; Islamist parties were banned, but many ...

, held on 19 November. The RFD participated in this election as part of an eight party opposition alliance. It won 15 out of 95 seats in the 21 January and 4 February 2007 Senate

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

7 out of 56 seats. In the 11 March and 25 March 2007 presidential election, Daddah, the party's candidate, won 20.69% in the first round, but was defeated in the second round with 47.15%. Daddah said on May 7, 2008, that the RFD would not participate in the government of Prime Minister

Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef ( ar, يحيى ولد أحمد الواقف; born 1960
as Prime Minister, Agence Mauritanienne d'Inform ...

, despite Waghef's consultations with opposition parties regarding the formation of a government. The RFD supported the military coup d'état of August 6, 2008. Daddah described the coup as "a movement to rectify the democratic process" and alleged that the 2007 presidential election was "marked by fraud". The RFD is an observer member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...

."Socialist International welcomes release of Mauritanian opposition leader"
Socialist International, February 4, 2005.

References

{{Mauritanian political parties Full member parties of the Socialist International Social democratic parties in Africa Socialist parties in Mauritania