Mauritania: President Ghazouani Re-elected with 56% Votes

Mauritania’s President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, has been re-elected with 56.12% of the vote, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced Monday.

This victory hands the former army chief a second term as the country’s leader, preparing to start gas production.

Ghazouani avoided a second round by securing over half the votes in Saturday’s election. His main opponent, an anti-slavery activist, Biram Dah Abeid, received 22.10% of the vote. Abeid has rejected the results, accusing the government of manipulating CENI (the electoral commission).

Hamadi Ould Moctar, leader of the Tewassoul party, came in third with 12.78%.

“We did everything we could to prepare the conditions for a good election, and we were relatively successful,” said CENI chief, Dah Ould Abdel Jelil.

The 2019 election marked Mauritania’s first transition between two (civilian) elected presidents since independence from France in 1960. Despite regional instability, Mauritania has not experienced an attack since 2011, a stability largely attributed to Ghazouani.

The election’s first runner-up, Abeid, refusing to recognise the CENI’s results, called for protests in “the streets.” His campaign manager was also arrested.

Meanwhile, the second runner-up, El Moctar, urged his supporters to avoid actions that could cause public disorder, saying he would pay attention to see if the voting regulations were breached.

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