 After independence, President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally installed by the French, formalized Mauritania into a one-party state in 1964 with a new constitution, which set up an authoritarian presidential regime.Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization.The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style multi-party democracy.