On August 1, 2024, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani will officially begin his new term after securing re-election in the first round with 56.12 percent of the vote. His main opponent, Biram Dah Abeid, received 22.10 percent and has contested the election results, alleging manipulation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).
The inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place at the El Mourabitoune Conference Centre in Nouakchott and is expected to be attended by several African heads of state, some of whom arrived as early as Wednesday. According to the Mauritanian press agency, the presidents of Chad, Guinea-Bissau, and Gambia, along with the Algerian prime minister, are among those present.
Ghazouani, a 67-year-old career military officer and the frontrunner in the election, had previously won the presidency in 2019 with a slightly lower margin of 52 percent. Mauritanians have signaled their preference for continuity in leadership in this nation of 4.9 million people, which has not experienced a jihadist attack on its territory since 2011, despite such incidents being common in neighboring Mali and other parts of the Sahel region.
AC/Sf/fss/abj/APA