Mauritania started its march towards democracy in November 2006, when local and regional elections were held throughout the country. Presidential elections followed in March 2007. None of the 19 candidates won more than 50% of the vote in the first round, and the two top candidates, Sidi Ould Sheik Abdellahi, a former government minister, and Ahmed Ould Daddah, an opposition leader, faced off in the country's first-ever second round of voting. Abdellahi prevailed in the runoff to become the country's first democratically elected president.
Mauritania was a one party dominant state with the Democratic and Social Republican Party in power. Opposition parties were allowed, but widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Mauritania elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. Prior to 2006, the president was elected for a six-year term by the people, with no term limits; following the constitutional referendum of June 2006, presidential terms are now five years, with a two-term limit and a maximum age limit of 75. The Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly has 81 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 56 members, 53 members elected for a six-year term by municipal councilors with one third renewed every two years and 3 members elected by Mauritanians abroad.
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