Mauritania’s Constitutional Court has reportedly approved the applications of six candidates on a provisional basis for the country’s upcoming presidential polls, which is scheduled to be held on June 22.
The list includes the names of Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed (Ould El Ghazouani) of the ruling party and current Defense Minister, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar of the National Rally for Reform and Development, Rights activist Biram Dah Abeid, Mohamed Ould Mouloud, Kane Hamidou Baba, and Mohamed Lemine al-Mourtaji al-Wafi, reported Africa News.
The court still has the right to bar any of the six candidates from contesting in the election for stated reasons. The decision is expected to be given in the coming days.
The election campaigning in the West African nation will begin on 7 June, two weeks until the voting day when Mauritanians will go to the polls to elect a new president for the next five years. According to a presidential decree, if there is no outright winner in the first round of elections, a runoff vote will be held on July 6.
The winner will replace incumbent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz who is finally stepping down after spending two constitutionally mandated terms.
Abdel Aziz, a 62-year-old former general who was a major figure in a successful coup in 2005, led another coup in 2008 that forced out the then president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abadallahi. Aziz won the elections held in 2009 and secured a second and final term in office in elections held in 2014, winning in the first round.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International and 32 local human rights organizations on Monday made an appeal to the candidates running in the presidential election to end slavery and violence against women in the poor sub-Saharan country. The organizations also asked the candidates to sign a manifesto consisting of 12 commitments to promote and protect human rights in Mauritania.
