North African Mauritania Presidential Election Tomorrow... President Ghazouani Likely to Win Re-election

Political Party of Gajuani Achieves Landslide Victory in Last Year's General Election

Mauritania, an Islamic country in West North Africa, is holding a presidential election on the 29th (local time).

A total of seven candidates, including the incumbent President Muhammad Ould Ghazouani, are running. While President Ghazouani is favored for re-election, Biram Dah Ould Abeid, who came in second in the last election, and Hamadi Ould Sidi El Mokhtar, leader of the Islamic opposition party, are considered major contenders.

If no candidate receives a majority of votes in this election, a second (runoff) vote will be held on the 14th of next month to determine the final winner. The number of registered voters is approximately 1.94 million.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Locally, it is widely expected that President Ghazouani will secure a second term in the first round of voting. As the current chairperson of the African Union (AU) this year, he has been credited with making Mauritania a relatively stable country in the Sahel region since taking office in 2019. The El Insaf party, to which President Ghazouani belongs, also achieved a landslide victory in last year's general election, winning 107 out of 176 seats.

Mauritania is a country located at the western edge of the Sahara Desert. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, it has experienced several coups but achieved its first peaceful transfer of power in the 2019 presidential election. Although a member of the Arab League, Mauritania established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999 and, unlike neighboring Sahel countries under military rule due to coups, maintains friendly relations with Western countries such as the United States and France. Despite being rich in natural resources like gold, oil, copper, zinc, and iron ore, it is among the poorest countries in Africa.