Polls reopened in parts of Mauritania Sunday for a second round of balloting in the country's landmark parliamentary elections, AP reported. The voting will determine 52 legislative races that were too close to call in last month's first round. The northwest African country is voting for a new parliament in its first series of elections following a 2005 coup that deposed Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya. The ruling junta has promised to restore democracy and has been commended for organizing a constitutional referendum and the legislative vote. Mauritania's legislature has 95 seats, so the remaining 52 seats constitute a majority of the assembly. A coalition of parties that had opposed Taya won 26 seats in the first round, the majority of the 43 seats decided in the Nov. 19 vote, and is competing for 21 of the remaining seats. Many others are competitions between independent candidates. Taya's party won four seats in the first round, which was declared generally free and transparent by international observers.
