Mauritania’s President Ghazouani Wins Re-election With 56.12% Vote

Mauritania’s incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani has won re-election with 56.12 per cent of the country’s vote, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said on Monday.

The electoral victory gives the former Army Chief a second term as head of the country, seen as a rock of relative stability in Africa’s volatile Sahel region and set to become a gas producer.

Ghazouani would have faced a second round had he not won more than half the votes in Saturday’s election.

As it was, he placed well ahead of his opposition, anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who won 22.10 per cent, according to results announced by CENI chief Dah Ould Abdel Jelil.

Abeid said on Sunday he would not recognise the results of CENI, which he accused of being manipulated by the government.

Ghazouani’s other rival, Hamadi Ould Sid’ El Moctar, who heads the Islamist Tewassoul party, came third with 12.78 per cent, according to CENI.

“We did everything we could to prepare the conditions for a good election and we were relatively successful,” said the head of the electoral commission.

Saturday’s presidential election had an overall turnout of 55.39 per cent, lower than in 2019 when Ghazouani was brought into power.

The results had trickled in since Saturday evening and were published continuously on an official online platform, indicating the aggregate outcome.