Mauritanian Popular Front

Popular Front Front Populaire الجبهة الشعبية
President	Mohamed Lemine Ch'bih Ould Cheikh Melainine
Founded	1998
National affiliation	Patriotic Alliance
Seats in the National Assembly:	0 / 95
Seats in the Senate:	0 / 56
Politics of Mauritania Political parties Elections

The Popular Front (Front Populaire) is a political party in Mauritania.

The party was founded in 1998 based on a platform committed to the establishment of a civil state, access of all political parties to the media, the separation of the Mauritanian state and the Democratic and Social Republican Party of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, and the creation of a national unity government chaired by the opposition. The front was initially mainly distinguished by its policy of non-participation in elections under the Taya government.

Party leader Mohamed Lemine Ch'bih Ould Cheikh Melainine was arrested on 8 April 2001 along with two other party members, Mukhtar Ould Haibetna and Bouba Ould Hassan, on grounds of conspiracy to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism in Mauritania. The government alleged the trio to have been acting in collusion with the Libyan government of Muammar al-Gaddafi. The three were tried in a criminal court some 850 kilometers from Noukachott, and each received a sentence of five years imprisonment. The sentence was met with surprise from many observers, who had expected the three to be acquitted. The defense team argued that the trial was deeply flawed, and that the confessions from their clients had been obtained as a result of an interrogation during which they had been drugged by the Mauritanian police.

The party went on to contest the legislative elections in October 2001, winning one seat. Following the removal of Taya from office the party competed in the 2006 elections, winning 1 out of 95 seats.

External links

• Official web site