Democratic progress faltered in Mauritania, when in August 2008, less than two years after Mauritanian citizens democratically elected Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi as president, senior military officers led a coup d’état which overturned the government. A military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ruled the country during the proceeding months of political gridlock which saw the rise of a coalition of political parties standing in opposition to the junta, demanding return to constitutional order. Under an agreement signed in Dakar in late June 2009 which forged a compromise between the ruling junta and the opposition, a national unity government is steering the country toward presidential elections scheduled for July 18, with a potential run-off on August 1.
