| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Barlamane / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Majlis Al-Chouyoukh / Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Al Jamiya-Al-Wataniya / National Assembly
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) (from/to) | 8 November 2009
15 November 2009 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for 17 of the 53 indirectly elected seats in the Senate. |
The term of the Senate is 6 years. One-third of the membership is renewed in indirect elections every two years. In January 2009
the Senate chose the one-third of members (17 members in total) to be renewed in 2009 (Group A). On 6 February 2009
the Government issued a decree setting Senate elections for 3 and 10 May 2009. However
on 3 April
it issued another decree postponing the elections without setting new dates. The postponement was due mainly to the delayed presidential elections.
In the meantime
in March 2009
supporters of Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz - who had ousted the then President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a coup in August 2008 - formed the Union for the Republic (UPR) in view of the presidential elections. Mr. Aziz was elected as President in July. The first round of Senate elections was held on 8 November. A run-off election for one seat was held on 15 November. The UPR won 13 of the 17 seats. In all
two women were elected. On 22 November
one male UPR member was designated by the Senate to represent Mauritanians in sub-Saharan Africa.
After the 2009 renewal
the UPR held 38 seats in all
and its allies - the UDP and the Fadhila - had one seat each. An opposition parliamentary group
the Ech-choura
held 12 members. It comprised the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD)
the Union of Forces of Progress (UFP) as well as former government members. The members of the "Tewassoul" Party and the Mauritanian Party of Union and Change (HATEM) sit as independents since these parties hold less than three senators
which is the minimum number to form a parliamentary group in the Senate. There were eight women out of the full 56 members of the Senate. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 8 November 2009 |
|
| Round no 2 | 15 November 2009 |
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Grand total |
|
|
|
| Union for the Republic (UPR) |
12
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| "Tewassoul" Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Union for Democracy and Progress (UDP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Round no 2
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Grand total |
|
|
|
| Union for the Republic (UPR) |
1
|
13 |
|
|
|
| "Tewassoul" Party |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Independents |
0
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Union for Democracy and Progress (UDP) |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
15
2
11.76%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- Senate (26.12.2009
27.01.2010
28.01.2010)
- http://www.ami.mr/fr/defaultfr.htm |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
