[t]http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2017/8/5/ff80309cd5cf402c962cbeccf527eeb7_18.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE]President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz last week described the senate as 'useless and too costly'[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Mauritanians have voted to abolish their senate and alter their national flag by referendum, the electoral commission announced on Sunday, in a clear victory for President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz the day after the vote.
While turnout was 53.73 percent, 85 percent of voters on Saturday declared "Yes" to changes put to a referendum when they were defeated in the Senate in March, despite fierce criticism from a boycott movement that called mass protests during campaigning.
Abdel Aziz, who last week described the senate as "useless and too costly," has said the move to abolish the governing body would improve governance by introducing more local forms of lawmaking.
WATCH: Mauritania referendum - Counting under way in controversial vote (2:26)
But the boycott movement drew broad political support from figures as diverse as religious conservatives and anti-slavery activists.
Members of opposition parties spearheading the boycotters held a press conference on Sunday during which they denounced an "electoral farce which has given way to open-air fraud," adding that people "had clearly rejected the constitutional amendments."
They said they would not recognise the results of the referendum, having previously claimed the government would rig the vote.
The most contentious issue surrounding the vote, given that just one opposition party campaigned for "No" while the boycott campaign attracted several parties and civil society movements, was the turnout.
Turnout was just 36 percent in the capital, Nouakchott, but was much higher in the remote West African nation's rural areas, at times hitting 80 percent, the electoral commission said.
The boycott movement held several protests attracting thousands of supporters, but were also prevented from demonstrating by the security forces, who on Thursday shut down several planned rallies close to the capital with tear gas and beat protesters back with batons.
The UN Human Rights Office said on Thursday that "protest leaders were reportedly beaten up and a number of them were arrested" during campaign rallies in the last few weeks, urging the government to ensure fair and credible elections.
Around 1.4 million Mauritanians were eligible to vote and celebrations were expected from the select opposition parties that did support the revision.
The opposition groups opposed to the measure say they are concerned that, despite Aziz's claims to the contrary, he is laying the groundwork for a third term in power - with his own prime minister saying back in July that he supported the idea.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]The Mauritanian flag will now feature red bands added to the current green flag with yellow Islamic crescent and star, to honour the blood spilled by those who fought for freedom from colonial master France.[/QUOTE]
New Mauritanian flag:
[IMG]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/230750505012297728/344109410122989581/255px-Flag_of_Mauritania_282016_proposal29.png[/IMG]
[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/mauritania-votes-abolish-senate-referendum-170807003416088.html[/url]
Consolidating his powerbase I presume.
I don't quite get why people boycott these votes. I understand it's controversial, but I don't understand why they wouldn't at least try to vote no.
[QUOTE=Tinter;52547547]I don't quite get why people boycott these votes. I understand it's controversial, but I don't understand why they wouldn't at least try to vote no.[/QUOTE]
Because the votes are secret and easy to fake while the turnout rate is much harder to fake. A high turnout with a large rigged yes vote looks more legitimate than a rigged (or true) vote with a small turnout.
[QUOTE=download;52547567]Because the votes are secret and easy to fake while the turnout rate is much harder to fake. A high turnout with a large rigged yes vote looks more legitimate than a rigged (or true) vote with a small turnout.[/QUOTE]
I'm trying to get my head around this. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Surely as you have more voters, the results end up regressing to the mean?
[QUOTE=Jabberwocky;52547645]I'm trying to get my head around this. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Surely as you have more voters, the results end up regressing to the mean?[/QUOTE]
Doesn't matter, rigging the vote is easy, faking turnout is not.
[QUOTE=Abdel Aziz]has said the move to abolish the governing body would improve governance by introducing more local forms of lawmaking.[/QUOTE]
Fear will keep the local systems in line.
Goodbye trias politica, hello dictatorship?...
this is a country that still, from an administrative standpoint, allows slavery. it wasn't even illegal in the law books until 2007, and it remains unenforced today. that they would try to remove the ability to hold even semi-legitimate national senate powers is unfortunately of no surprise
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.