A voter castes a ballot in Mauritania's March 11th presidential election.

His declaration was followed by a round of approving nods. Then, as the muezzin’s call echoed from a nearby mosque, all the men gathered together and prayed. When they finished, a large rug was spread out on the floor and the women sat down, a circle of colorful veils, to lead the ballot counting, while the men peeked over their shoulders. The paper ballots were colorful as well, with pictures of each candidate and his symbol, such as a camel, a nomadic tent, or a scale of justice. These images are necessary in a country where, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), half the population is illiterate. Each lengthy ballot was carefully scrutinized, and it was just before midnight when the poll workers, exhausted but satisfied, finished their day’s groundbreaking work.

The beginnings of Mauritania’s new democracy were manifest here in Kiffa, as well as in over 2,000 other polling stations across the country, as an estimated 70% of registered voters peacefully cast their ballots in the country’s first free and fair election. Until a bloodless coup d’état in 2005, egregious election fraud had allowed the previous leader of Mauritania, Maaouya Ould Ahmed Taya, to maintain power for twenty-one years.

The democratic winds of change have swept through the Islamic Republic of Mauritania since its 2005 coup. The post-coup transitional government, known as the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, surprised the international community by making good on its promise to return Mauritania to civilian rule. No foreign intervention, as has been the case in so many African countries, was necessary. It is this that makes the transition to democracy unique. According to Beddou Ould Saleck, a civil society leader in Mauritania, the government “actually did work everyday in trying to give up power, rather than consolidate it.” The ruling military council installed presidential term limits within the constitution, established a quota for female representation in legislative elections, and barred anyone from the military junta from running for office.

Bechir el Hassen, a businessman and founder of Pacte Républicain, an advocacy organization that helped foster a dialogue between the candidates, seemed somewhat surprised himself when he listed all of the accomplishments of the interim government: “a transition without fault, real democratic reforms in the spirit of social equality, free and transparent elections with a second round preceded by the first ever political debate—all of this is almost too beautiful, too perfect to be true.”

Women voters line up on March 11th, 2007 to participate in Mauritania's first democratic election.

Though Mauritania is relatively unknown beyond its continental parameters, its successful advance towards democracy has significant implications. The history of West Africa is cluttered with coups, and only a few have fostered democracies. While the foreign minister called the transition a uniquely “Mauritanian solution to a Mauritanian problem,” others see it as a paradigm for those countries in the Maghreb and in the greater Arab world that are plagued by dictatorships, a censored press, and the absence of civil liberties. As Pacte Républicain’s El Hassan noted, “We know now that Arabs and Muslims are not congenitally subject to a dictatorship and meritocracy and that democracy is very well possible in our region.”

But the election itself might be the easiest part of achieving democracy.

As many other countries have demonstrated, a democratic government alone does not ensure rapid progress towards development. Indeed, given all the social and economic problems Mauritania faces, the election euphoria is now being tempered by a more cautious optimism. Such ambivalence was expressed clearly by Ibrahim Ba, a restaurant worker in Nouakchott. “Politics are like camels,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Right now we may be at the top of the hump, but things will descend once again with the new government.”

On April 18, almost a month after he won, President Abdallhi, known to Mauritanians as “Sidi,” was inaugurated. As he begins his presidency, one of the most urgent challenges facing him is the struggle to achieve national unity. While the various ethnic populations of Mauritania seem to coexist peaceably, there is underlying tension among the politically and economically dominant “white” Moors, the “black” Moors, and the historically disenfranchised black “Afro- Mauritanian” groups, such as the Halpulaar, Wolof, and Soninke.