From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1997 Mauritanian presidential election

none

Summary

none

Field	Value
country	Mauritania
type	presidential
flag_year	1959
previous_election	1992 Mauritanian presidential election
previous_year	1992
next_election	2003 Mauritanian presidential election
next_year	2003
election_date	12 December 1997
image1	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (2005).jpg
nominee1	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
party1	Democratic and Social Republican Party
popular_vote1	801,190
percentage1	90.25%
image2	3x4.svg
nominee2	Chbih Ould Cheikh Malainine
party2	Independent politician
popular_vote2	61,869
percentage2	6.97%
title	President
map_image	1997 Mauritanian Presidential Election - Results by Wilaya.svg
map_caption	Results by wilaya
before_election	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
before_party	PRDS
after_election	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
after_party	PRDS

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 12 December 1997. Incumbent President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya won the election with 90% of the vote. Voter turnout was 75%.

Background

President Ould Taya came to power in a coup d'état in 1984 and ruled Mauritania as one-party state for the next seven years. Under the 1991 constitution multi-party democracy 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

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 to run for president in a country that had been dominated politically by Moors since independence. Moctar was a former hospital administrator who pledged to oppose slavery 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 and in his campaign called for press censorship to be ended. Lastly Mohammed Mahmoud Ould Mah was the secretary general of the Popular Social and Democratic Union. He had contested the 1992 election and pledged to renegotiate agreements with the European Union and International Monetary Fund 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 the capital Nouakchott and the second city Nouadhibou was low but turnout was reported by the government to be higher elsewhere in the country.

By wilaya

Wilaya	Sid'Ahmed Taya	Cheikh Malainine	Jeid	Mah	Moctar	Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal}};"		Independent}};"		Mauritanian Party for Renewal and Concord}};"
Adrar	21,579	84.7	2,980	11.7	612	2.4	200	0.8	93	0.4
Assaba	97,947	95.0	3,836	3.7	544	0.5	605	0.6	183	0.2
Brakna	58,802	93.4	3,064	4.9	335	0.5	559	0.9	223	0.4
Dakhlet Nouadhibou	12,996	54.3	10,155	42.4	406	1.7	229	1.0	164	0.7
Gorgol	39,872	91.7	2,558	5.9	269	0.6	452	1.0	323	0.7
Guidimaka	30,675	92.1	1,667	5.0	283	0.8	397	1.2	276	0.8
Hodh Ech Chargui	191,708	98.7	1,608	0.8	341	0.2	472	0.2	129	0.1
Hodh El Gharbi	112,060	95.2	4,186	3.6	513	0.4	788	0.7	165	0.1
Inchiri	12,439	94.9	557	4.2	21	0.2	67	0.5	23	0.2
Nouakchott	63,489	69.4	22,763	24.9	2,314	2.5	1,739	1.9	1,190	1.3
Tagant	31,236	94.1	784	2.4	844	2.5	172	0.5	169	0.5
Tiris Zemmour	7,431	59.4	3,962	31.7	889	7.1	133	1.1	89	0.7
Trarza	120,099	95.9	4,018	3.2	281	0.2	539	0.4	299	0.2
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

[[Dieter Nohlen]], Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p597, 599 {{ISBN. 0-19-829645-2
(September 2024). "Mauritanian opposition cries foul". [[Middle East Times]]}}{{dead link.
(1997-12-13). "Mauritanian president wins poll". [[BBC News Online]].
(1997-12-11). "Mauritania: IRIN-WA Election Brief, 12/11/97". Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa.
(1997-12-13). "Mauritania votes". [[The Independent]].
(1997-12-15). "Mauritania president stays on". [[The Independent]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1997-elections-in-africa presidential-elections-in-mauritania 1997-elections-in-mauritania december-1997-in-africa

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1997 Mauritanian presidential election — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report