25 parties and 1.7 million voters. Mauritanians vote for new parliament, opposition reports abuses

Long queues lined up outside several polling stations in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Saturday to elect a new parliament and regional and local councils in the first election since President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani took power in 2019. Amadi Ould Sidi Mokhtar, head of Mauritania's largest opposition party, the National Rally for Reform and Development (RND), said "significant violations" were recorded in the early hours of the elections.

Polling stations opened to voters at 25 a.m. local time, with <> parties taking part, the total number of licensed political parties in the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission announced that the turnout was 18% at midday.

For his part, the Mauritanian president said the government was "determined to successfully organise parliamentary and local elections".

On the other hand, the head of the National Rally for Reform and Development said in a statement after casting his vote that the opposition "was very concerned about the course of the electoral process, especially with regard to the Independent National Electoral Commission, and what we feared was achieved today."

"During the first two hours of the start of voting, we followed up on many violations, there are centres that did not open their doors two hours after the start of voting, centres that were moved away without prior notice, centres that received incomplete electoral lists and centres where representatives of parties are not accepted," Ould Sidi al-Mokhtar said.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comment on RND statements about "irregularities" and said that "voting is going smoothly and without obstacles."

Rivalry is raging in the capital Nouakchott between the ruling Insaf party and the National Rally for Reform and Development (an Islamist opposition).

Both parties are looking to win the post of president of the Nouakchott region, which is considered the most important electoral office in the capital.

The ruling Insaf party renewed its candidacy for Fatima bint Abdelmalek, who had held the post since the 2018 elections, while the National Rally for Reform and Development (RND) fielded the former mayor of Arafat's district in Nouakchott and the party's most prominent leader, El Hassan Ould Mohamed, for the job.

According to figures from the Independent National Electoral Commission, 559 lists are running in parliamentary constituencies that will compete for 167 parliamentary seats.

The number of lists running for the regional elections reached 145 lists competing for 13 regional councils, while the number of lists running for municipalities reached 1378,238 lists, competing for <> local councils.

Last March, Mauritanian President Ghazouani issued a decree dissolving the National Assembly (parliament) in preparation for holding elections, which have since been suspended from that date.