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Article 2
The people are the source of all power.
The national sovereignty belongs to the people who exercise it through their elected representatives
and by way [voie] of referendum.
No fraction of the people or any individual may arrogate its exercise.
Political power is acquired, is exercised and is transmitted, within the framework of peaceful
alternation, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. The coups d’état and other forms
of unconstitutional changes of power are considered as imprescriptible crimes whose authors or
accomplices, physical or juridical persons [personnes physiques ou morales], are punished by the law.
Nevertheless, these acts, when they were committed before the date of entry into force of this
constitutional law will not give rise to prosecution.
No partial or total abandonment of sovereignty may be decided without the consent of the people.
Article 3
The suffrage can be direct or indirect, in the conditions specified by the law. It is always universal,
equal, and secret.
All the citizens of the Republic, of majority of both sexes, enjoying their civil and political rights, are
electors.
The law favors the equal access of women and of men to the electoral mandate and elective functions.
Article 4
The law is the supreme expression of the will of the people. All are required to submit to it.
Article 5
Islam is the religion of the people and of the State.
Article 6
The national languages are: Arabic, Poular, Soninke, and Wolof. The official language is Arabic.
Article 7
The capital of the State is Nouakchott.
Article 8
The national emblem is a flag with a crescent and a gold star on a green field.
The seal of the State and the national anthem are established by the law.
Article 9
The Motto of the Republic is: Honneur – Fraternité – Justice [Honor – Fraternity – Justice].
Article 10
The State guarantees to all citizens the public and individual freedoms, notably:
• the freedom to circulate and to establish themselves in all parts of the territory of the Republic;
• the freedom to enter and to exit the national territory;
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the freedom of opinion and of thought;
the freedom of expression;
Mauritania 1991 (rev. 2012)
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