Presidential elections were held in

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

on 8 August 1976, alongside a parliamentary by-election for the new seven seats representing

Tiris El Gharbiya Tiris al-Gharbiyya () was the name for the area of Western Sahara under Mauritanian control between 1975 and 1979. History Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara in 1975 after the Madrid Accords, ...

, the Mauritanian-occupied area of

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

. At the time, the country was a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

with the

Mauritanian People's Party Mauritanian People's Party (PPM, ; ) was the sole legal party of Mauritania from 1961 to 1978. It was headed by President Moktar Ould Daddah. Daddah founded the party shortly after Mauritania's independence from France in November 1960 by mergi ...

(PPM) as the sole legal party. Its leader, incumbent President

Moktar Ould Daddah Moktar Ould Daddah (; December 25, 1924 – October 14, 2003) was a Mauritanian politician who served as the country's first President after it gained its independence from France. Moktar served as the country's first List of prime ministers of Ma ...

, was the only candidate and was re-elected unopposed. Voter turnout was 97.9%. They were the last elections held until the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1992. The elections were held during a time when Mauritania along with Morocco held a treaty to partition provinces of

during 1975 while independence was fought in the province by

Polisario Front The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...

. Daddah claimed that the winning the elections was a mandate for annexing the provinces of

Background

Mauritania came under the direct control of the French Colonial Empire during 1933. After independence on 28 November 1960, the country declared itself the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, with Ould Daddah becoming its first President. He declared the country a

in 1964, and in 1965 all parties merged into the ruling Mauritanian Assembly Party to form the

(MPP). Daddah changed his stance from pro-French to nationalist during the early 1970s. He terminated the defense treaty with France in 1972, discontinued the French currency bloc and nationalized French property. He also showed interest in annexing oil rich regions of

, which was contested by

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. A war erupted between Morocco and the Sahrawi national

liberation movement A liberation movement is an organization or political movement leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperiali ...

, the

, which proclaimed the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...

(SADR) with a government in exile in

Tindouf Tindouf () is the main town, and a Communes of Algeria, commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Algeria–Mauritania border, Mauritanian, Algeria–Western Sahara border, Western Saharan and Algeria–Morocco border, Moroccan borders. Th ...

. Although Daddah initially allied with Algeria in opposing Morocco, during 1974, he realigned his position and is believed to have made a secret agreement with the king of Morocco. This eventually led to an agreement in 1975 that partitioned Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco.

Results

References

{{Mauritanian elections

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

Presidential elections in Mauritania One-party elections Single-candidate elections