As part of our project in Mauritania, funded by theEuropean Union, we are participating in Nouakchott in the second meeting of the Monitoring Committee for the Revision of Mauritania’s Electoral Legal Framework. The proceedings, opened under the chairmanship of Abdjelil Dah, president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), are dedicated to reviewing proposals for amendments to the draft Electoral Code and preparing for the next phases of the process.
Participants in this meeting include members of the CENI Steering Committee, the secretaries-general of the Constitutional Council, the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), and the High Authority for the Press and Audiovisual Media (HAPA), as well as the legal advisor to the Ministry of the Interior. ECES is represented by Ashref Maktouf, project coordinator, Monia Belarbi, senior legal expert, and Dorra Tanfous, expert in institutional operations.
The discussions are based on an analysis matrix covering 302 articles of the draft Electoral Code, accompanied by a summary note. This second meeting provides an opportunity to compare the experts’ analysis with the observations of the relevant institutions, taking into account the applicable laws and their experience in organizing, supervising, and monitoring elections.
The proceedings are organized around three thematic groups: voter participation and candidacies; electoral operations, results, and disputes; and the election campaign, the media, and campaign financing. With the support of the experts, participants examine the proposed provisions, their legal basis, and the conditions for their implementation—in particular, the institutions’ responsibilities, deadlines, safeguards, and the resources necessary for their enforcement.
The goal is to identify areas of technical agreement, reservations, and differences of opinion, while also specifying any additional verifications or contributions required. This approach also makes it possible to identify links between the various provisions and the issues that must be subject to joint discussion.
The plenary session is dedicated to presenting the groups’ conclusions and examining cross-cutting issues. It is intended to help reconcile proposals, document outstanding issues, and establish a shared work schedule. Issues that fall outside the Committee’s technical mandate are referred to the competent authorities.
Through this support, we foster dialogue among Mauritanian institutions and strengthen their contributions to the revision of the electoral legal framework, paying particular attention to the consistency of the provisions and their practical application.
29 October 2026
