Mauritania: a triple test election for power one year before the presidential election

President Mohamed Ould Cheikh el-Ghazouani on November 7, 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh. © BANDAR AL-JALOUD / AFP

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In Mauritania, legislative and local elections are being held on Saturday. The campaign ended on Thursday. Nearly 1.8 million are called upon to choose their deputies, mayors and regional councillors. A triple election that presents novelties compared to the previous ones and which presents an important issue for the party in power.

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Mauritanians will have to cast no less than six ballots today, says our correspondent in Nouakchott, Léa Breuil. A first to choose their mayors, another to choose their 15 regional councillors and 4 just to choose the 176 members of Parliament. Among these 4 ballots for the deputation: one of them has been reserved since 2013 for women candidates to ensure their representation in Parliament.

And for the first time this year, another is reserved for young candidates under 35. Eleven seats will be allocated to them ex officio in the National Assembly. Another novelty is that half of the MPs will be elected this year by proportional representation. So to help voters not to make mistakes during the vote: awareness-raising actions were carried out during the campaign and each of the parties has a recognizable symbol next to its name such as the scale for the ruling party El Insaf, the palm tree for the first Islamist opposition party Tawassoul or the lion for the Sawab party of former anti-slavery MP Biram Dah Abeid.

These reforms could generate enthusiasm for these elections among young Mauritanians, who make up the majority of the country's population. Yet, despite these provisions, the Electoral Commission is concerned that ballot papers may be filled incorrectly. In 2018, just over 31% of ballots that concerned national lists were invalid ballots.

El Insaf party in a position of strength

This triple election will mainly serve to measure the popularity of President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, and his party El Insaf. After four years in power, this is the first time that the head of state has faced the test of the ballot box. Her party is the favourite, because it is the only one to present candidates in all departments. These elections will also be an indicator for the 2024 presidential election, even if the head of state has not yet decided for a possible second term, recalls our special envoy in Nouakchott, Sidy Yansané.

Even if it leaves disunited, the stakes are just as high for the opposition, especially for the two main challengers of the presidential party. For the Islamist party Tawassoul, which held the largest number of seats in the Assembly after the ruling party, it is a question of confirming its status as the leading opposition force.

Because in ambush is Biram Dah Abeid. The anti-slavery activist, who has not been allowed to form his own political party, has allied himself with the Sawab party, which hopes to benefit from the popularity of the Mauritanian black rights activist, who came second in the 2019 presidential election.

People from the peripheries, people from poor neighborhoods, we can't live decently. The newly elected must help us improve our lives.

Mauritanians' expectations

Sidy Yansané

► READ ALSO: Mauritania: voters divided between hope in youth and disappointment of politics

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• Mauritania
• Mohamed Ould Ghazouani