Presidential Campaign
Boulkheir was a candidate in the presidential election of November 7, 2003, taking fourth place with about 5% of the vote. On November 8, together with the opposition candidates Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla and Ahmed Ould Daddah, he alleged fraud and urged the people to reject the results.
On January 20, 2007, following the ouster of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in the August 2005 military coup d'état, Boulkheir announced his candidacy in the March 2007 presidential election. In the election, held on March 11, he placed fourth, receiving 9.79% of the vote. On March 19, he backed Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi for the second round, despite the fact that he was part of the Coalition of the Forces for Democratic Change along with the other second round candidate, Ahmed Ould Daddah. Abdallahi won the election, and on April 26, 2007, Boulkheir was elected as President of the National Assembly, receiving 91 votes from the 93 deputies present.
On September 2, 2007, Boulkheir said that the APP would not join a new party being formed to support Abdallahi; according to Boulkheir, this initiative would harm pluralism and be a move back to a single-party dominant system.
Following the August 2008 military coup d'état, in which Abdallahi was ousted, Boulkheir said on August 10, 2008 that he still recognized Abdallahi as President and rejected the junta's plans to hold a new election. The APP took part in a four-party alliance opposing the coup, called the National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD), along with Abdallahi's party, the National Pact for Democracy and Development (PNDD-ADIL).
In October 2008, Boulkheir called for a solution to the situation that would involve Abdallahi returning to the presidency for only the limited period necessary to organize an early presidential election. Boulkheir's proposal would also involve the formation of a government of national unity during that period.
The National Assembly opened for its first regular session since the coup on November 10, 2008 (it had previously held a special session). Remaining in opposition to the coup, which was supported by a parliamentary majority, Boulkheir boycotted the session. On April 8, 2009, Boulkheir participated in an FNDD protest in Nouakchott against the planned June 2009 presidential election, denouncing the "unilateral electoral agenda of the putschists" and warning that "neither tanks, nor guns nor live bullets can stop our fight against the usurpation of power by force".
Read more about this topic: Messaoud Ould Boulkheir
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