Provisional results from all polling places, announced on Sunday, indicate that Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ghazouani is expected to be re-elected.
In a region beset by coups and bloodshed, Ghazouani has elevated Mauritania’s stature internationally and established it as a vital Western ally.
His expected win highlights the backing for his guidance amid local unrest.
According to the nation’s independent election body, Ghazouani, who ran on a platform of security and economic prosperity, received 56.1% of the vote late on Saturday.
With 22.1% of the vote, his chief opponent, anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, rejected the results early on Sunday, claiming fraud.
It is currently anticipated that the nation’s constitutional court will examine the results and declare the election’s ultimate result, however it is not yet known when that will occur.
Of the two million eligible voters, 54% of them cast ballots, according to the commission.
Despite facing accusations of corruption and poor leadership, Ghazouani, the former head of the army, maintains his popularity among Mauritanians who view him as a pillar of stability.
With terrorist bloodshed and military coups rocking Mauritania’s neighbors, the voting is happening in a dangerous regional environment.
Natural resources found in abundance in Mauritania include gold, oil, copper, zinc, phosphate, iron ore, and natural gas.
It is expected to start producing gas by the end of the year, when work on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project, which is controlled by BP, near the Senegalese border, is completed.
Still, almost 60% of people live in poverty and work as farmers or in other informal jobs, according to the UN.
Young people in their home countries have limited economic options, therefore many are seeking to travel to Europe, and some are even trying to enter the US through Mexico.
“The last word belongs to the Mauritanian voters,” Ghazouni said after voting in Ksar, a suburb of the capital. “I commit myself to respecting their choice.”
Saturday’s vote unfolded peacefully, according to observers.
“Nothing has been detected so far, and the CENI has not received any complaints,” said Taghioullah Ledhem, the spokesman for the CENI, the country’s independent electoral commission.
Nonetheless, a few rival contenders had a different viewpoint. The government appoints the president of CENI, which is composed of political party representatives.
Its collision with Ghazouani’s regime has been attributed by some.
Second-place vote-getter Biram Dah denounced the preliminary results and threatened a “electoral coup d’état for the benefit of Ghazouani, who was defeated by voters.”
He charged that thousands of votes were given to Ghazouni “out of nowhere” by the electoral commission during a press conference on Sunday morning.
Later on Sunday, he urged the military and security services to oppose the government’s deployment of them against the people from his home in Riadh, a poor suburb of the capital of Mauritius. He also promoted civil disobedience.
“The battle is not over; we are not defeated,” he said. “The people are not defeated and will not be defeated, we are there to defend the people until the last drop of blood.”
Although it has not yet released a comment, the African Union dispatched an observation mission to Saturday’s voting.
for a mission …