Afrigather The ruling get together in Mauritania scored a snug victory in final week’s legislative and native elections, in accordance with official outcomes on Sunday, a litmus take a look at for the veteran head of state forward of subsequent yr’s presidential ballot.
The elections had been the primary since 2019, when President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani got here to energy.
He has overseen the West African nation’s relative stability within the more and more violent Sahel area and is extensively anticipated to hunt re-election in 2024, though he has not confirmed his plans.
Ghazouani’s El Insaf get together was the favorite to win among the many 25 events vying for the backing of the nation’s 1.8 million voters.
El Insaf took 80 of the 176 seats in parliament, introduced the pinnacle of the impartial electoral fee (CENI), Dah Abdel Jelil.
Thirty-six different seats went to events allied to the president and 24 to the opposition, 9 of them to the Islamist Tewassoul motion.
Tewassoul — which is looking for a strict utility of Islamic regulation — was the principle opposition group within the outgoing parliament, through which El Insaf had a snug majority.
There will probably be a run-off vote on Could 27 for the remaining 36 parliamentary seats.
El Insaf received all 13 regional councils and 165 of the 238 native constituencies up for grabs.
The opposition has complained of “huge fraud” within the elections, which noticed an official turnout of 71.8 p.c.
Ghazouani, 66, is a normal thought-about one of many major architects of Mauritania’s success towards jihadism, in his former function as military chief.
His get together was the one one to subject candidates in all constituencies on this month’s parliamentary and native polls.
This was forecast to provide him a lift in subsequent yr’s presidential poll, specifically with the huge, arid nation’s rural citizens.
Extra sources • AFP
