NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — A former army general who seized power by overthrowing this Islamic republic’s first freely elected president last year is gunning for Mauritania’s presidency again — this time legitimately, through the ballot box.
The election Saturday represents a chance for the coup- plagued desert nation, which straddles the Arab and African worlds, to end decades of military rule and resurrect billions of dollars in frozen aid once pledged by international donors. In a country where military strongmen wield more power and influence than the constitution or any written law, neither task will be easy.
Junta leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz “already took power wearing a military uniform,” 39-year-old car salesman Yacoub Brahim said of the race’s top contender — who resigned from the army in April so he could legally run for office.
“Now he’s trying to take over again dressed as a civilian, but it’s a disguise,” Brahim said. “He’s only interested in power.”
The vote began Saturday after police in Nouakchott exchanged fire overnight with two alleged members of an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist cell that claimed responsibility for gunning down an American teacher last month.
State security chief Mohamed Lemine Ould Ahmed said both men were detained; one, found wearing an explosive belt around his waist, was shot and wounded by police.
Vote counting began after polling stations began closing about 7 p.m. local time. Hundreds of international observers are monitoring the poll, and most expect it to be free and fair.
If no candidate wins the necessary 50 percent majority, a second round will be held Aug. 1.
Of the nine candidates contesting, three others are considered serious contenders:
• Veteran opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah, who was runner-up in 2007.
• Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, who led the 2005 junta.
• Parliament speaker Messaoud Ould Boulkheir — a black Moor whose parents were slaves in an era before the practice was outlawed.
All three men are promising to put Mauritania back on the democratic path.
Messaoud told reporters at a polling station that Mauritania will “never turn back” toward the era of military rule.
After casting his own ballot elsewhere in Nouakchott, a bespectacled Aziz, sporting a billowing white robe, vowed he would “bring change, development and prosperity” to Mauritania and win enough votes to avoid a runoff.
That Aziz, despite his history, is now a front-runner in Saturday’s ballot reflects a mentality among many here that favors king-like, authoritarian rule. “Mauritanians are attracted to strongmen, they prefer the powerful over the weak, they unfortunately don’t want intellectuals at the helm,” said journalist Mohamed Fall Ould Oumeir, who works for the independent Tribune newspaper. “The problem with Mauritania is that nobody respects the constitution, but that’s changing.”
