Doubt cast on Mauritania election results

Many Mauritanians are hoping that the first post-coup election will bring stability to the country [AFP] 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." 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." 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. 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 Mauritania at a crossroads A 'road map' for Mauritania Mauritania's coup in the making Inside Story: Mauritania's political puzzle 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. 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. The election had been put off for a month in order to end an opposition boycott.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies