Introduction
Mauritania is an indivisible, democratic, and social Islamic Republic. The country operates abicameral parliamentary system. The Parliament is made up of two representative assemblies, the Majilis al-Shuyukh (Senate) as the higher house and Jamiya Al Wataniya as the lower house[1].
After gaining independence from France in November 1960a new territorial structure based on a division into regions and communes was adopted. Immediately following independence The Mauritanian public authorities drew inspiration from the unitary, centralised state model inherited from the former colonial administration[2].
The country held its first multi-party elections in 1992, having previously ratified a new constitution by referendum in 1991. The first fully democratic presidential elections were held in 2007, transferring power from military to civilian rule, following the military coup in 2005. A further military coup occurred in 2008 which ousted the government. Legislative and municipal elections were held on 23 November 2013.
The centralised state of Mauritania is partially devolved. Mauritania currently has four administrative levels, of which only three have any real administrative authority:
- 13 regions (Wilayas), including Nouakchott
- 53 departments (Moughataa)
- 33 arrondissements (no administrative powers)
- 216 communes
Under Article 98 of the Constitution of 12th July 1991, the territorial districts are the communes as well as other entities which the law designates as such[3].
A region can mean both a state administrative district and a territorial community[4]. Each region is made up of one decentralised administrative district. The regions are divided into departments, which are in turn divided into arrondissements. The basic administrative unit is the commune. Each region is subject to the authority of a governor (wali), who represents the executive. The departments are subject to the authority of a prefect (hakem), while the arrondissements are subject to a chef d’arrondissement [head of arrondissement][5].
Whilst the legal framework of regionalisation has gradually been established in Mauritania, its implementation has been limited. The 1995 Declaration of Municipal Policy, reaffirmed the national commitment to decentralisation, recommending gradually transferring powers to the level of local authorities and improving the institutional environment of the municipalities[6],.
Central level
Article 47 of the Constitution stipulates that deputies are elected to the National Assembly for five years by direct suffrage, while senators are elected for six years by indirect suffrage. They represent the Republic's territorial communities, members of the diaspora are also represented. One third of the senators are replaced every two years[7].
The national government retains strict controls over the autonomy and powers of local authorities, including the power to sanction communal authorities, and authorises the suspension, dissolution or revocation of the municipal council or of the mayor and his deputies.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finances approves the municipal budget with regard to loans to be contracted, and guarantees to be approved, donations or legacies - Setting, within the framework of existing laws and regulations of the collected rate, fees and duties mode on behalf of the municipality. Central government sets the operating appropriations in the budget, while the implementation of these is devolved to the sub-regional or regional level[8].
In 2007 Mauritania finally entered into Euro-Mediterranean regional cooperation[9].Several agreements with international players such as the EU[10] and states such as France provide for decentralised cooperation and local development programmes For example a project to support devolution and decentralisation has been in place since 2004 aiming to support the services of the Ministry of the Interior and its territorial administration to supervise and strengthen the capacities of the communes to optimise them in terms of operation, management, transparency and collegiality (PADDEM 2 project)[11].
Regional level
The status of the regions was clarified with the ordinance of 30 January 1990. The regional administration is exclusively entrusted to a governor, who in addition is also head of all regional services[12].
The governor is the official representative of the territorial administration, directly under the authority of the Minister of the Interior.
At the regional level, the administration is highly centralised around the governor who, , represents all national ministers. The governor is the superior of the prefects, who are in charge of the departments.
The governor delegates instructions to the departments and oversees their execution, monitors progress and reports to the central government.
In principle, all of the central government's departmental directorates are located in the regional capital: treasury, economic and social affairs, agriculture, and water[13]. Theoretically, the Wilaya is... the seat of the State's devolved technical services. In practice, the process of devolving the technical ministries is yet to be finalised[14].
Only a few State services have been devolved to the regional level: outside the areas of rural development, primary teaching and healthcare, which have regional directorates, the ministries have no regional delegations.
Local level
The base of the State's pyramid of devolved administration is the commune, and the only territorial community explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of 1991 (Article 98).
The reform of 1987 awarded the communes a uniform legal status. They are the only administrative unit with legal personality outside the State.. Both the State and the communes pursue the general interest, each within their own sphere of authority[15].
At the local level, municipal councillors, the mayor (who is head of the commune) and his deputies are all elected. The municipal councillors are elected by universal direct suffrage under proportional representation[16]. Following the 2006 reform, the municipal council elects the mayor from among the councillors on the list that have won an absolute majority of the votes cast in the elections[17]. The municipal council elects one or several deputy mayors from among its members[18].
The mayor carries out certain tasks on behalf of the State. He therefore acts independently from the municipal council. The mayor is responsible for applying and enforcing laws, regulations and drawing up the municipal accounts, implementing the budget and setting levies, taxes and fees.
He is in charge of the municipal police, i.e. he ensures, under the supervision of the local administrative authority, order, cleanliness, peace and public morality in the territory of the commune[19].
The communes have their own powers, as set out in Article 2 of the ordinance of 1987[20]. These include:
- public roads;
- building, maintaining and equipping primary school buildings;
- building, maintaining and equipping clinics and mother-and-child protection centres;
- public water supply and lighting; in the case of a concession, the specifications are approved by a decree;
- urban, medical and school transport services;
- fire-fighting;
- cleanliness and removal of household waste;
- markets;
- sports and local culture facilities;
- parks,gardens,and cemeteries;
- help for the needy;
- developing and managing areas granted by the state to the commune.
The communes are also tasked with devising, planning and implementing social, cultural and economic development policies in the interests of local inhabitants.
The communes are financially independent. Their budgets are made up of loans duties, rates, taxes, revenues, donations and legacies, and rates and taxes for service rendered. Municipal taxation is governed by Ordinance No 90-04 of 6 February 1990[21] and the amendments thereto (finance laws of 1994, 2001 and 2002). The ordinance distinguishes between 2 types of ordinary resources: municipal taxes (impôts communaux) received and redistributed by the State, and taxes (taxes), which feed directly into the commune's budget. Two state funds also contribute to the budget of local governments: the Regional Development Fund and the Communal Solidarity Fund[22].
[1] Global Edge,
Global Insights, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
[2] Livre blanc de la décentralisation en Mauritanie [White paper on decentralisation in Mauritania], p. 23.
[3] Constitution
of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (adopted 12th July 1991)
[4] El Hacen, M. O., ‘Centre et Régions en Mauritanie’ [Centre and Regions in Mauritania], cit., p. 155.
[5] ), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA),Islamic Republic of Mauritania Public Administration Country Profile, Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) October 2004.
[6] Livre blanc de la décentralisation en Mauritanie [White paper on decentralisation in Mauritania], p. 121.
[7] Mauritania
Constitution (adopted 12th July 1991)
[8] Mediterranean
Commission, United Cities and Local Governments, Observatory of Democratic
Governance in the Mediterranean, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
[9]Weigert, M., La Mauritanie. Acteur-clé de la régionalisation euro-méditerranéenne, [Mauritania. Key player in Euro-Mediterranean regionalisation], Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Mediterranean World (IPEMED), December 2010,
[10] Mauritania— European Community, Country strategy paper and national indicative programme 2008-2013, cit., p. 7 et seq.
[11] French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the following page: www.ambafrance-mr.org/Gouvernance-Locale (FR).
[12] See Livre blanc de la décentralisation en Mauritanie [White paper on decentralisation in Mauritania], cit., p. 44; Ould Beidy, S .M., L’administration territoriale et le développement local en Mauritanie [Territorial Administration and Local Development in Mauritania] (Paris, L’Harmattan, 2009).
[13] El Hacen, M. O., ‘Centre et Régions en Mauritanie’ [Centre and Regions in Mauritania], cit., p. 155.
[14] See Livre blanc de la décentralisation en Mauritanie [White paper on decentralisation in Mauritania], cit., p. 44
[15] Ibid.
[16] See Article 93 of Ordinance No 87-289 of 20 October 1987 repealing and replacing Ordinance No 86-134 of 13 August 1986 establishing the communes, Official Journal No 696-697 of 28 October 1987, p. 403.
[17] See Article 36 of Ordinance No 87-289 amended by Ordinance No 2006-026 of 22 August 2006, Official Journal No 1125 of 31 August 2006, p. 514 et seq. For more details, see also Livre blanc de la décentralisation en Mauritanie [White paper on decentralisation in Mauritania], cit., p. 73 et seq.
[18] Ibid. Art. 37.
[19] Article 47: Ordinance No 87-289 of 20 October 1987.
[20] Article 2: Ordinance No 87-289 of 20 October 1987.
[21] Ordinance No. 90-04 of 6 February 1990 establishing municipal taxation, Official Journal, 1990, p. 213. For references, see in particular Ould Beidy, S.M., L’administration territoriale et le développement local en Mauritanie [Territorial Administration and Local Development in Mauritania] cit., p. 78 et seq.
[22] Mediterranean Commission, United Cities and Local Governments, Observatory of Democratic Governance in the Mediterranean, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
