NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Nearly 2 million people went to the polls on Saturday in Mauritania, a vast desert nation in West Africa. Mauritania positions itself as a strategic ally of the West in a region rife with coups and violence, but is also accused of human rights abuses.
President Mohamed Ould Ghazuani, who is widely expected to run for a second term, is a former army chief who took power in 2019 after the first democratic transition in the country’s history. He is also the current Chairman of the African Union.
In last year’s general elections, the El Insaf party won an overwhelming victory, taking 107 out of 176 seats in the National Assembly.
Ghazouni will face seven of those opponents. Biram is already AbeidAn anti-slavery activist, leader of several opposition parties, and neurosurgeon who was nominated for the third consecutive nomination.
The vote is taking place amid a particularly tense regional atmosphere, with Mauritania’s neighbors rocked by military coups and jihadist violence. Mauritania, one of the most stable countries in the Sahel, has been hailed as a key partner in curbing migration and fighting extremism and has not suffered any attacks since 2011.
Earlier this year, the European Union gave Mauritania 210 million euros (200 million euros) to help Mauritania crack down on smugglers and deter migrant boats from taking off as the number of people attempting the dangerous transatlantic crossing from West Africa to Europe increases. announced $25 million in funding. rises sharply. It also announced an additional 22 million euros ($23.5 million) for Mauritania’s new counter-terrorism battalion, which will patrol its volatile border with Mali.
Ghazouni emphasized Mauritania’s security commitments throughout his election campaign. Experts believe the message was first relayed to the military juntas of neighboring countries and to Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group in the region, as well as to the jihadi groups that carried it out. Invading a Mauritanian village.
“I advise anyone, internal or external, not to think of trying to destabilize Mauritania or its territorial integrity,” he told a campaign meeting.
But opposition candidates have accused his government of corruption and clientelism. Anti-slavery activist Biram da Abeid, Ghazouni’s main rival in the presidential race, said there had been “disastrous management of the state” under Ghazouni.
Mauritania is rich in natural resources, including iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil, and natural gas. However, according to the United Nations, nearly 60% of the population lives in poverty, working as farmers or employed in the informal sector. There are few economic opportunities for young people, and many attempt to cross the Atlantic to reach Europe.
In an interview with the Associated Press after a rally in Nouakchott, Mauritania’s capital, Da Abid said, “The Mauritanian regime has always lived by plundering wealth, suppressing the population, and using counterfeit goods,” and chanted “Zero Gajuani.” And “Long live Biram”.
He said that under Ghazumi’s rule, “corruption is in full swing along with waste of state funds.”
There is no real separation of powers, Dah Abied said. “In reality, justice is not independent and there is no independent legislative power,” he said.
The country has also been accused of human rights abuses due to the persistent presence of slavery, which casts a long shadow over its history. For centuries, the country’s economic and political elite, the Arabs and Amazigh, enslaved black people from the northwestern Sahara.
Mauritania outlawed slavery in 1981, making it the last country in the world to ban it. But according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, about 149,000 people (less than 5 million) are engaged in modern slavery in the country, the human rights group said.
Dah Abied is a descendant of slaves, and he made the struggle a cornerstone of his political career and life. He founded the anti-slavery group Abolitionist Resurgence Initiative and was arrested and imprisoned several times by Mauritanian authorities.
He told the Associated Press, “My father was freed from slavery while he was in my mother’s womb.” But he married an enslaved woman and saw his children sold, Da Abid said.
“My father took an interest in fighting slavery and made it his legacy,” Dah Abied said. “I promised him I would fight against slavery for the rest of my life, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
