Mauritanian People's Party

Mauritanian People's Party (PPM, French: Parti du peuple mauritanien; Arabic: حزب الشعب الموريتاني, romanized: Hizb al-Sha'ab al-Muritaniy) was the sole legal party of Mauritania from 1961 to 1978. It was headed by President Moktar Ould Daddah.

Mauritanian People's Party حزب الشعب الموريتاني (Arabic) Parti du peuple mauritanien (French)
Founder	Moktar Ould Daddah
Founded	November 1960; 64 years ago (November 1960)
Banned	10 July 1978; 46 years ago (10 July 1978)
Preceded by	Mauritanian Regroupment Party Association de la Jeunesse Mauritanienne Mauritanian National Renaissance Party (Nahda) Mauritanian National Union Socialist Union of Mauritanian Muslims
Headquarters	Nouakchott, Mauritania
Ideology	Authoritarianism Nationalism Centralism Islamic socialism Mauritanian irredentism
Politics of Mauritania Political parties Elections

Daddah founded the party shortly after Mauritania's independence from France in November 1960 by merging his Mauritanian Regroupment Party with opposition parties including Association de la Jeunesse Mauritanienne, Nahda, the Mauritanian National Union, and the Socialist Union of Mauritanian Muslims.^[1] The parties were united at a meeting of their political leadership in December 1961, and Daddah proceeded to enact a range of repressive laws, banning alternative political parties and bestowing virtually unlimited power upon the presidency.

Following the 10 July 1978 coup led by Mustafa Ould Salek, Mauritania's civilian leadership was replaced with military rule and the party was abolished and banned.^[2]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
1966	Moktar Ould Daddah	471,577	100%	Elected Y
1971		512,708	100%	Elected Y
1976		630,635	100%	Elected Y

National Assembly elections

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
1965	Moktar Ould Daddah	445,844	100%	40 / 40	40	1st	Sole legal party
1971		504,406	100%	50 / 50	10	1st	Sole legal party
1975		574,758	100%	70 / 70	20	1st	Sole legal party
1976 (by-election)			100%	7 / 7	7	1st	Sole legal party

See also

• List of Islamic political parties

References

1. Pazzanita, Anthony G (1996). Historical Dictionary of Mauritania (Second ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780810830950.
2. Abdel Wedoud Ould Cheikh (Spring 2010). "Sozialstrukturen und politische Macht in Mauretanien". inamo (61): 4f.