By Paulina ZidiPosted on 19-06-2019Modified 19-06-2019 at 17:53
Final straight for presidential candidates in Mauritania whose first round is scheduled for Saturday, June 22. The end of the season is scheduled for Thursday at midnight. It only remains a few hours to convince voters with rallies including Nouakchott, where the ubiquitous display of candidates finally hide a dull campaign.
With our special correspondent in Nouakchott,
" It changes from the last election in 2014, at least, there are posters this time ." For this journalist, used to cover Mauritania, the atmosphere in 2019 is very different from that of previous elections. At first glance, when one arrives in the city, Nouakchott seems to live to the rhythm of this presidential campaign. It's impossible to miss out on the move to the city center.
On the main avenues of the capital, on each side of the road, there are dozens of khaïma, traditional Bedouin tents, in the colors of the candidates. In these places, we gather theoretically to discuss, debate. All day and part of the night, loudspeakers spit music, speeches.
The overwhelming presence of Ghazouani
Almost all the billboards were requisitioned to extol the merits of the candidates. And without any limit, the big private companies have turned their headquarters into permanent campaign displays of unfailing support for their champion. And their champion is especially the candidate of the ruling party: General Ghazouani.
Indeed, everywhere in Nouakchott, the face of President Aziz's dolphin is present. Posters, banners, banners of all sizes beaten by the winds of the Mauritanian desert with its slogan " for the homeland ". Difficult under these conditions to exist for the other five candidates. Some still try it, this is the case of former Prime Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar supported by the opposition party Tawassoul and who has the power of these moderate Islamists to pull out of Thu.
In the rest of the hypercentre, there are even some posters of Kane Hamidou Baba or Dr. Mohamed Ould Maouloud. A discreet presence, but not as much as that of Mohamed Lemine El Mourteji El Wavi, a personality hitherto unknown in Mauritania, and for whom it is necessary to walk patiently the great streets of Nouakchott to try to find his HQ and his campaign communication .
But this omnipresence of General Ghazouni hides badly a campaign which has Nouakchott remained rather dull. " We must not trust that, it's wind in reality. In Nouakchott, what we see of Ghazouani is that the display, it does not exist , "said the spokesman of another candidate. Here, we evoke especially powder to the eyes that hides a real " communication deficit " as entrusted by a journalist from Mauritania. The khaïma often remain empty.
" It's true that this campaign is a little bland," says a cross-Mauritanian in the city center. In the evening, there are people out there, but it has nothing to do with elections. People just enjoy the cool evening to go for a family walk. "
If the Mauritanians' expectations are numerous, the debates have not always been the height for Ousmane, artist: " We, we want to talk about education, national unity. We aspire to change . Topics that are present in the programs of the various candidates, but which were little debated during a campaign where the confrontation power / opposition monopolized the attention.
Forgotten neighborhoods
When you leave the city center, the displays are not present and in some outlying areas of Nouakchott, nothing reminds an election must take place in a few days. " In my neighborhood, there is nothing at all. Not even a few posters, says Zeiina, a young high school student . I did not see any candidate. "
Rather absent from the city center, a candidate still invested more than the others in these outlying areas. It is anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abei. His campaign teams crisscross the suburbs of the capital to mobilize young people under the leadership of one who calls himself General Sy. Responsible for caravans for all Nouakchott, he regularly tour the permanences in neighborhoods distributing t-shirts, caps with the image of his candidate hoping to create an effervescence away from the overwhelming shadow of the party in power.
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