NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, June 30 – Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has secured re-election with over 56% of the vote, according to provisional results released Sunday by the West African nation’s electoral commission. The results, reflecting votes from 4,468 out of 4,503 polling stations, indicate a decisive victory for the 67-year-old former army chief of staff and defense minister.
Ghazouani, who first took office in 2019, has committed to boosting investment to ignite a commodities boom in Mauritania, a nation of 5 million people preparing to commence natural gas production by the end of the year. Analysts had anticipated Ghazouani’s victory in the first round due to the ruling party’s dominance.
The provisional results positioned anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid as Ghazouani’s main rival, with 22.14% of the vote, followed by Hamadi Sidi El Mokhtar of the Islamist Tewassoul party with 12.8%. Earlier on Sunday, Abeid rejected the results, alleging irregularities and stating that his own electoral commission would proclaim the results.
“We’ll not accept these results from the so-called independent electoral commission. We’ll use our own electoral commission to proclaim the results,” Abeid declared at a news conference in Nouakchott, the capital.
