A government critic once hid his children upstairs each time the doorbell rang, fearful they would see him being hauled away by state security agents. Now that critic sees reason for hope in unlikely advocates of democracy: Leaders of a military junta that seized power in Mauritania last year. On the weekend, the junta held a constitutional referendum in which voters overwhelmingly adopted changes ensuring future heads of state will never again be able to stay in office for life.Similar pledges to restore civilian rule have rung hollow in the wake of other African coups, but Mauritania's junta leaders appear to be following through. The constitutional amendments, which authorities announced Monday had been approved, limit future heads of state to two five-year terms in office — no small feat in a coup-prone country that has never seen power change hands via the ballot box. Interior Minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine announced Monday that final results showed nearly 97 per cent of voters had adopted the changes. The constitutional court must confirm them before they can become law. Turnout was more than 76 per cent, Lemine said. About 980,000 of Mauritania's nearly three million people were registered to vote.
"Mauritania has changed for good, there is no going back," said the government critic, 46-year-old journalist Mohamed Fall Ould Oumeir, who was jailed four times under the former regime and had entire editions of his weekly Tribune newspaper repeatedly seized.