Mauritanian parliament holds final session before polls

By Mohamed al-Bakay

NOUAKCHOTT (AA) - Mauritania’s parliament held its final session late Tuesday amid plans to hold fresh legislative elections early next month.

Addressing the assembly, Parliamentary Speaker Mohamed Ould Boilil praised the performance of lawmakers, describing the upcoming poll as “an important step in the country’s democratic transition and an honest expression of the popular will”.

Following the dissolution of the Mauritanian Senate last summer, Mauritania’s National Assembly became a unicameral parliament whose 155 members are elected every five years.

Mauritania is now set to hold parliamentary and municipal polls on Sept. 1.

Last month, several Mauritanian opposition parties questioned the integrity of the electoral process, calling for the country’s official electoral commission to be dissolved and replaced with a new one.

Party leaders say the commission was formed without consultation with Mauritania’s main opposition forces.

The government, for its part, which is led by the ruling Union for the Republic party, insists that all steps have been taken to ensure “free and transparent” elections.