In Mauritania, Democracy Takes Root

Mauritania Junta leader Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall seen as he votes at the city of Nouakchott, Mauritania, in this Sunday, June 25, 2006 file photo. The military commander who rules Mauritania refers to the vast, cream-colored palace generations of dictators have refused to leave as his "prison," saying he will not be free until he turns it over as promised to a president elected in a vote set for Sunday (AP/Photo Schalk van Zuydam, File) (Schalk Van Zuydam - AP)

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Blue-robed nomads, village elders, lawyers and civil servants stream into Mauritania's presidential palace, urging the bespectacled man who seized control of this desert nation in a coup to stay in power. But Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall calls the cream-colored palace generations of dictators have refused to leave his "prison" _ and pledges to turn it over as promised to a democratically elected president after an election Sunday.

Coups are typically seen as the enemies of democracy, but it was just such a military takeover that brought the seeds of freedom to this nation on the edge of the Sahara. Vall is packing his bags after two years in power, but many here fear whoever replaces him could plunge the country back into autocratic rule.

"As long as Mauritanians keep on thinking of the president as someone who is indispensable, they will continue to make a monumental error of judgment," said the bookish, soft-spoken man who has the manner of a shy college professor rather than a shrewd military commander. "It's that kind of thinking that leads to dictatorship."

On Aug. 3, 2005, Vall led a coup against long-ruling Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya, who was attending the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd at the time. Hours later, Vall issued a statement assuring his countrymen, "We are here to bring democracy." Taya fled into exile.

For the tired masses of this country enveloped in sand dunes, it seemed another promise as empty as the vast desert they inhabit. Before Vall took over, Mauritania had had nine coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1960; nearly all brought repression.

But Vall's coup was different. He promised to free the press, restore basic rights and hold elections within two years in which neither he nor anyone belonging to the 17-member junta would be allowed to run.

Nineteen months later, a record 1.1 million out of a population of 3.2 million are registered to vote for one of 19 candidates in what is widely seen as Mauritanians' first chance to freely elect their president.

The press is no longer muzzled, the judiciary appears to be independent and a new referendum-approved constitution has enshrined basic liberties, as well as term limits meant to prevent dictatorships.

So changed is Mauritania under Vall that many say they wish he had not vowed to step down. Hence the delegations trying to persuade him to stay.

But staying in power would serve nothing, said Vall on one of his last days in the spacious presidential palace office, decorated with bouquets of plastic orange roses.

"The problem for Mauritanians is that for the first time in their lives, they don't know what the outcome of the election will be. ... Psychologically it's very hard. It terrifies them," said Vall, who before the coup headed the national police.

"But it's a fear that must be overcome, like a child who must stop clinging to his parents to take his first steps."