5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Mauritania’s Constitutional Council on Thursday confirmed the re-election of Mohamed Ould Ghazuani as president of the country after winning 56.12 percent of the vote in the elections held last Saturday, which were followed by accusations of fraud and protests that left three people dead.
“(Ould Ghazuani) is elected President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in accordance with Article 26 of the Constitution,” reads a statement from the organisation published by the Mauritanian news agency AMI.
Regarding the above-mentioned accusations, made mainly by opposition activist Biram Dah Abeid, the Council has reported that no application has been submitted within the statutory period for appeals.
Dah Abeid, who won 22 percent of the vote, denounced fraud on Sunday and called on his supporters to demonstrate. In the context of the protests, the Mauritanian authorities have limited access to the Internet via mobile phones.
Balla Touré, a politician close to opposition candidate El Id Mohameden Mbareck (Union of Salvation Forces, UFS), has also spoken of “hostile” acts during the presidential campaign, and has questioned the electoral management system for contradicting democratic values. Mbareck has been supported by 3.57 percent of the population.
The elections, which had a turnout of 55.39 percent, are seen as key to consolidating the democratic process in Mauritania, a mostly desert country with nearly five million people – making it one of the lowest population densities in the world – which experienced its first political transfer of power in 2019 after a succession of coups d’état between 1978 and 2008, especially in the face of the growing threat of the spread of jihadism in the Sahel, which has not so far affected Mauritanian territory since 2011.
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