Ghazouani won 56.12 percent of the vote, well ahead of his rival Biram Dah Abeid, the electoral commission says.
Incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani won Mauritania’s presidential election, securing a second term, according to the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).
Ghazouani, 67, won 56.12 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections, well ahead of his main rival, anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid, who won 22.10 percent, CENI reported on Monday. fair.
Ghazouani’s other main rival, Hamadi Ould Sid’ El Moctar, who leads the Tewassoul party, came in third with 12.78 percent, according to CENI.
Saturday’s presidential elections saw a global turnout of 55.39 percent, lower than in 2019.
But opponent Abeid said he would not recognize the CENI results, which he accused of being manipulated by the government.
Some of Abeid’s supporters demonstrated in the capital Nouakchott late Sunday, burning tires and disrupting traffic.
“We did everything we could to prepare the conditions for a good election and we were relatively successful. I congratulate everyone,” the head of CENI, Dah Ould Abdel Jelil, told journalists.
The election victory gives former army chief Ghazouani, 67, a second term as head of the vast desert country, seen as relatively stable in Africa’s volatile Sahel region and poised to become a gas producer.
He has presided over a period of relative stability since 2019 as Sahel neighbors including Mali struggle with violence with the rise of armed groups that have led to military coups.
Mauritania has not recorded any attacks on its soil in recent years and Ghazouani, who currently chairs the African Union, has promised to manage threats from such groups.
Ghazouani also made helping young people a key priority in a country with a population of 4.9 million, where almost three-quarters of people are under 35.
After a first term hit by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the incumbent says he hopes to carry out more reforms thanks to a favorable economic outlook.
Ghazouani also pledged to invest in renewable energy and expand gold, uranium and iron ore mining.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
