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Six candidates are challenging Mauritania’s leader, who came to power in 2019 after the country’s first democratic transition
Mauritanians will go to the polls on Saturday to choose a president from a list of seven candidates, including incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. Nearly two million people have registered to vote, according to data published on the website of the West African country’s Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).
Mauritania’s election comes on the heels of elections in its Sahel neighbour, Chad. Elected A civilian government was established last month after three years of military rule.
President Ghazouani, a former army chief, came to power in 2019, marking the first democratic transition in a country with a history of coups and military-backed governments since 1978. He won 52% of the vote.
Analysts predict Ghazouani will win the June 29 election because his El Insaf party is popular in the desert state. The ruling coalition won a landslide majority in last year’s legislative elections, winning 107 of the 176 seats in the National Assembly.
The president, whose government has been accused of corruption, is running against anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who came in second in the 2019 election with more than 18 percent of the vote.
Abed is questioning Ghazouani over his human rights record and the marginalization of the country’s black population. Slavery still exists in some parts of the country, according to a 2023 United Nations report, despite being abolished in 1981 and criminalized in 2007.
The former French colony, with a population of about 4.5 million, is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphates, gold, oil and natural gas. The country’s vast territory, abundant solar and wind resources, and the ability to produce 8 million metric tons of green hydrogen per year make it an increasingly important energy hub. according to Despite this, according to the United Nations, nearly 60% of the population lives in poverty, either as farmers or working in the informal sector, and young people continue to try to cross the Atlantic to seek opportunities in Europe.
If re-elected, Ghazouani has pledged to accelerate investment and boost an energy and mining boom. He intends to establish a national agency to coordinate training, employment, education and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises to boost job opportunities for youth.
Ghazouani, who now chairs the African Union, also used the campaign to highlight Mauritania’s security commitments, pledging to tackle escalating armed threats in several Sahel neighbours, including Mali.
“I advise no one, inside or outside, to think about undermining Mauritania’s stability or its territorial integrity,” he said during his campaign.
While France has been expelled from military-ruled Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, Mauritania remains an ally of the West in the fight against jihadists in the Sahel and has received aid from Paris and other countries.
（RT.com）
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