Mauritania head wants to stay
2003-08-21 08:54
Nouakchott - Mauritania's President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya has announced he will stand for a third term in office in November elections.
He said: "According to a desire expressed on various occasions by a growing number of individuals, I have decided to be a candidate for the post of the president of the republic."
Taya has ruled the northwest African country since 1984 when he took power in a coup.
He was elected president in a multiparty poll in 1992 and was re-elected in 1997. He will now run for a third, six-year mandate.
A spokesperson for his Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS) announced in May it had nominated Ould Taya as its candidate to contest the first round of the presidential election on November 7.
Standing against Ould Taya will be former president Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, who has the support of several political parties, and independent candidate Aicha Mint Jeddane, a former PRDS member.
Ould Taya won the 1997 election in the first round after the vote was boycotted by the radical opposition party.
The interior ministry announced on June 12 the vote would go-ahead as planned, despite an aborted coup four days earlier.
The attempted coup was put down by forces loyal to the president after 36 hours of fighting in which 15 people were killed and 68 wounded, according to official figures.