EU: Mauritanian elections fair

2006-11-22 18:44

Nouakchott - European Union (EU) observers commended on Wednesday the good conduct of weekend parliamentary and municipal elections held after a military coup, saying there were no major irregularities.

"The elections were carried out in ... a free, open and fair political environment," said Marie-Anne Isler Beguin, head of the EU's election observation mission, which deployed 87 observers to Mauritania.

After a new constitution was adopted in June, the November 19 elections were the first in a series of votes that will pass power to civilians as promised by the military junta that overthrew president Maaouiya Ould Taya in August 2005.

"The campaign took place in a hospitable manner, the voting operations in transparency and respect for procedures, despite the large number of void ballots," which the observers attributed to a lack of voter education in the poor west African country.

About 500 observers, including 200 foreigners, were deployed in the 13 regions of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, two thirds of which are desert land, for the elections.

95 parliamentary seats up for grabs

On Tuesday, Burundi's former president Pierre Buyoya, leading observers from the International Organisation of French Speaking Countries (OIF), said that "these elections, which were carried out in good conditions, constitute an important step for the country's return to democracy".

The vote count continued very slowly on Wednesday in the compilation office at the ministry of the interior, which announced on national radio that the complete results would be announced in the evening.

But of 95 parliamentary seats that were up for grabs, more than half will have to go to a run-off because no candidates for those seats attained 50% of the vote, according to a government source.

The second round of polling is due on December 3.

Of the partial results published so far, the various opposition parties and independent Islamists combined have won more seats than the former ruling party of Taya.

To cap the transitional process to civilian democracy, presidential elections are to be held in March after senatorial polls slated for January.

- AFP