Author : International IDEA
Site of the publication : IDEA
Type of publication : report
Date of publication : 2023
Mauritania exhibits low-range performance in the Rights and Rule of Law categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, while exhibiting midrange performance in Representation and Participation. It is among the world’s bottom 25 per cent of countries across the majority of factors of democratic performance. Over the last five years, it has experienced declines in Access to Justice but advances in Elected Government and Effective Parliament. With vast expanses of uninhabitable land, Mauritania is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Such harsh conditions have also rendered the country’s agriculture-driven economy highly sensitive to shocks (and climate change) – with sometimes devastating impacts.
Mauritania became a French colony in 1903, and the colonial project was marked by military domination and a heavy tax burden on the population. It subsequently became the poorest territory of French West Africa. Mauritania gained independence in 1960, and its post-colonial history has featured an almost perpetual pattern of coups. The highly militarized and hyper-presidentialist political system continues to struggle to address a number of pressing problems, including: insecurity close to its border with Mali, the enduring practice of hereditary slavery, ethnic tensions, and severe poverty.
The military has been unwilling to depoliticize and, while elections have been the norm (instead of coups) since 2009, leadership has been unable to address structural tensions between the country’s three major ethnic groups. The first group is the Bidhân, who have monopolized the most significant state institutions and whose intra-group competition and cooperation remains a key factor in politics. The second group, the Haratines, comprise the descendants of enslaved black Africans.
Mauritania is among the world’s bottom 25 per cent with regard to performance on Gender Equality, but recent progress includes an electoral gender quota and legislation prohibiting harmful practices. Yet, patriarchal oppression and socio-economic constraints continue, while female genital mutilation and child marriage persist despite progress made through legislation.
Mauritania’s 2019 presidential elections marked the first peaceful transfer of power between two elected presidents notwithstanding that the president-elect was widely perceived to be a close partner of his predecessor. Looking ahead, it will be important to watch the marginalization of the Haratines, especially in light of the anti-slavery framework. The second area to watch relates to Rule of Law. While at least in part politically motivated, an ongoing corruption probe connected to a former president sets an important precedent in terms of accountability in the highest office.
May 2023 – Legislative elections return large majority for ruling party
Elections for representatives in the local, regional, and national legislative bodies were held in Mauritania on 13 and 27 May. At the national level, the party of the President (rebranded for this election as the Equity Party) won a strong majority with 107 of the 176 seats in the National Assembly. The legislature includes 20 seats elected through a special list for women, and with the addition of women who won seats in the general list and in single member districts, the new legislature will be 24.2 per cent women, which is almost unchanged from the previous legislature.
The ruling party was also successful in the local and regional elections, winning control of all 13 regional councils and a majority of the local councils. However, six opposition parties have demanded that the results of the election from a number of locations (most notably in the capital of Nouakchott) be rejected due to what they have called ‘tampering’ with the vote. Turnout at the national level was 71.6 per cent of registered voters, very slightly down from the last election (72.5 per cent).
February 2023 – Human rights activist dies in police custody
Souvi Ould Jibril Ould Cheine, a well-known human rights activist and representative of the Haratine community (descendants of former slaves), was taken into police custody on the night of 9 February. He died in hospital hours later. An autopsy found that the cause of death was a neck fracture and strangulation, and his family has alleged that he was tortured. News of Chein’s death was met with large protests that were broken up by riot police. Eight people have been charged in connection with Chein’s death. Included among those charged are four security officials (including the police commissioner for the station where Chein was detained) who have been charged with crimes that include torture and premeditated murder.