Nouakchott: Mauritania’s President Mohammad Ould Abdul Aziz has been re-elected with an overwhelming 81.89 per cent of the vote, preliminary results showed, after his main rivals boycotted a process they rejected as a sham.
The former general, who seized power in the northwest African nation in an August 2008 coup, campaigned strongly on his success in fighting armed groups linked to Al Qaida at home and in neighbouring Sahel nations.
Preliminary results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday indicated that Abdul Aziz was firmly ahead of anti-slavery candidate Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, who obtained just 8.67 per cent of Saturday’s ballot.
In third place was Ebrahima Mukhtar Sarr, with 4.44 per cent while the only female candidate in the race, Lalla Mariam Mint Moulaye Idriss took only 0.49 per cent.
One 70-year-old voter who gave his name as Brahim said the country, wracked by jihadist violence up until 2010, “had found peace”.
“That’s important and I want it to continue because peace is irreplaceable.”
Kidnappings and attacks by Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were frequent when Abdul Aziz came to power, but he boasts that he has turned his nation into a regional haven of peace thanks to his reorganisation of the military and security forces.
The mainly Muslim republic, sandwiched between the west coast of Africa and the Sahara desert, is seen by Western leaders as a bulwark against Al Qaida-linked groups.
In 2010 and 2011, Mauritanian troops carried out successful “preventative” raids on AQIM bases in neighbouring Mali, before the armed fundamentalists could carry out planned attacks on Mauritania.
Opposition critics argue that the price of peace has been authoritarian rule and boycotted a vote they dismissed as a sham.
Main opposition parties have never accepted Abdul Aziz’s 2009 victory in an election they said was marred by massive fraud.
The National Forum for Democracy and Unity — an opposition coalition of 11 parties including a moderate Islamist movement — rallied to denounce Abdul Aziz’s “dictatorial power” and were counting on a high abstention rate.
On Sunday, the electoral commission said turnout reached 56.46 per cent, below that of the 2009 elections when participation stood at 64 per cent.
African Union observers were satisfied with the vote.
“Overall, this election took place peacefully and in a spirit of political tolerance... I welcome the civic sense among the Mauritanians,” said the head of the AU mission, Al Baji Qaed Al Sibsi, who is also Tunisia’s former prime minister.
He noted the boycott and urged the political sides to dialogue.
Abdul Aziz has four challengers who have highlighted many of the country’s sensitive issues such as complex race relations between black Mauritanians and the dominant Arabs.
The only candidate from the black African south was Mukhtar Sarr, who argued that non-Arab Mauritanians are marginalised.
Ould Abeid, a descendant of slaves, proclaimed himself “the sole candidate drawn from disadvantaged levels of the people”.
He heads a movement to end slavery which remained legal until 1981 and persists as a deeply entrenched practice documented by rights groups.
Mauritania, nearly as big as Egypt, is a poor country but saw six per cent economic growth last year. It has produced oil since 2006 and is rich in iron ore as well as fish caught off its Atlantic coastline.
