The government of Mauritania is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the president serving as the head of state, while the prime minister is the head of government. The official name of the government is the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The Islamic laws are officially used in Mauritania, hence the name Islamic Republic. The government has three branches which include the Executive, the Judiciary, and Legislature. The first democratic elections were held in the country in 2007 since the country got independence in 1960 from France. It was handover power to the civilian government following the military coup in 2005. However, in 2008 there was another military coup.

Mauritania citizens over 18 years are eligible to participate in national voting which is done after five years. In March 2017, Mauritania held the first democratic presidential election. Before the military took over power in 2005, Mauritanian politics were dominated by one party and the president was elected for a six-year term with no term limits on the constitution. After the constitutional referendum of June 2006, the president is now eligible to run for two terms and maximum age limit to run for the office is 75 years.

The Mauritanian presidential palace is located at the center of the capital city Nouakchott, and it acts as the primary administrative office of the government. Chinese contractor built the Palace, and it has ample attractive gardens and ground which makes it a famous landmark in Mauritania. The country's parliament and all the other official residences are also located within the city.

There are several political parties in Mauritania. The major ones include the Action for Change, Peoples Front, Peoples Progressive Alliance, and Rally for Democracy and Unity, Rally of Democratic Forces, Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal and Tawassoul party. Others include Union of Democratic Forces, Union of Progress Forces and Union for Republic. These parties came into the political scene after the 2005 coup d’état which removed the Authoritarian rule and single party laws from the constitution.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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