Doubt cast on Mauritania results
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Opposition candidates in Mauritania's presidential election have rejected early results showing an army general leading with 52.2 per cent of the vote. The four politicians denounced the poll while supporters of General Ould Abdel Aziz celebrated the expected victory of their candidate on the streets of the capital Nouakchott on Saturday night. The candidates said in a statement: "We firmly reject these prefabricated results, [and] we call on the international community to put in place an enquiry to shed some light on the electoral process." If the results are confirmed, Abdel Aziz - who led coup last year and resigned from the army to contest the elections - will become president without the need for a runoff. Populist promises Abdel Aziz deposed Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi as president in August, provoking international criticism. Abdel Aziz's closest challenger is Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, parliamentary speaker and candidate of an anti-coup front, with 16.63 per cent of votes, the government figures show. In third place is Ahmed Ould Daddah, the head of the main opposition party, with 13.89 per cent. The electoral commission said voter turnout was at 61 per cent. Saturday's elections are intended to restore constitutional democracy to this arid but potentially oil-rich country in northwest Africa. The election had been put off for a month in order to end an opposition boycott.Many Mauritanians are hoping that the first post-coup election will bring stability to the country [AFP]
Ould Boulkheir, one of the candidates, said: "The results which are starting to come out show that it is an electoral charade which is trying to legitimise the coup."
He has promised cuts in food and fuel prices that are likely to endear him to Mauritanians, 40 per cent of whom live under the poverty line.In depth
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A 'road map' for Mauritania
Mauritania's coup in the making
Inside Story: Mauritania's political puzzle
Some 1.2 million of the nation's three million people were eligible to vote in the polls, which were monitored by international observers from the African Union, the Arab League and the association of Francophone countries. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies Related: Mauritania vote begins amid gunfire
(18 Jul 2009)
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