Mauritanians vote in presidential election

Mauritanians began voting Saturday to decide whether to re-elect President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani as head of the desert country, an oasis of peace in Africa’s volatile Sahel region.

Around 1.9 million registered voters are set to choose between seven candidates vying to lead the sprawling nation, which has largely withstood the tide of jihadism in the region and is set to become a gas producer.

An AFP journalist saw voters queueing up at two polling stations at a school in the heart of the capital Nouakchott before polling began at 0700 GMT. Men and women formed separate lines in this deeply conservative Islamic nation.

The electoral commission said 30 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 1400 GMT, five hours before the polls close. “I am here to fulfil my civic duty to complete the democratic process that began some decades back,” said Mohamed Salem M’Seika, a 50-year-old voter.

Kertouma Baba, 26, said he wanted “progress in education and opportunities for the youth”. Barka Kharachi, 26, said she wanted “a big change” to “sweep away all the corrupt men”.

Polling closed at 1900 GMT, and the first results were expected on Saturday evening. Official results are set to be announced on Sunday or Monday.

A 2019 election brought Ghazouani to power, marking the first transition between two elected presidents since independence from France in 1960 and a series of coups from 1978 to 2008. Former general Ghazouani is the overwhelming favourite to win a second term. Some observers even consider a first-round victory is possible given, opposition divisions and the resources of the president’s camp.

If there is a second-round vote, it will take place on July 14. Campaigning was relatively peaceful, except for some scuffles on Monday in the northern town of Nouadhibou, when “one candidate’s supporters” attacked backers of another candidate, the interior ministry said.

Ghazouani, a former security boss and army chief, is widely regarded as the mastermind behind the country’s relative security.

While the Sahel has in recent years seen a string of military coups and escalating jihadism, particularly in Mali, Mauritania has not seen an attack since 2011.

Throughout the campaign, Ghazouani promised his supporters “a resounding first-round victory”.

Posters of his face accompanied by the slogan “the safe choice” overshadow those of his political opponents both in Nouakchott and across the country.

The president cast his vote in Nouakchott on Saturday morning. “I congratulate the Mauritanians for their high level of consciousness and their democratic spirit,” he told reporters outside the polling station.

He welcomed a “climate of peace and tranquillity” during the election day. After a first term hit by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Ghazouani has made fighting poverty and supporting young people priority issues.