Mauritania Scraps Senate, Changes National Flag In Referendum

Mauritanians have voted to abolish their senate in a controversial referendum, the country’s electoral commission announced on Sunday.

The outcome seen as a clear victory for President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, also saw the country’s national flag altered.

The current green flag with yellow Islamic crescent and star will also feature red bands to honour the blood spilt by those who fought for freedom from France.

President Abdel Aziz called the referendum after the Senate rejected his proposals to change the constitution. He is accused by his rivals of trying to extend his mandate, an allegation he denies.

He is barred by the constitution from running a third term – he came to power in a coup in 2008, was elected president the following year and won a second term in 2014.

Abdel Aziz, had last week described the senate as “useless and too costly,” adding that abolishing the upper house of their parliament would improve governance by introducing more local forms of lawmaking.

Turnout was 53.73%, with 85% of voters supporting the change, despite fierce criticism from opposition who called it an “electoral farce which has given way to open-air fraud”.

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.

Scrapping term limits would enable Abdel Aziz to follow leaders of more than a dozen other African countries including in Uganda, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and more recently Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.