Mauritania’s presidential elections go to a second round

Voters in Mauritania’s election to reinstate a civilian President will have to go to the polls again in a second ballot. Results of yesterday’s initial vote reveal that none of the 19 candidates has secured more than 50 per cent support. So now there’ll be another vote on Sunday week between the two leading candidates.

It will be a head-to-head contest between the veteran opposition politician, Ahmed Ould Daddah, whose liberal party did well in parliamentary elections last year, and Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who’s already served in several ministerial posts. EU monitors say the country – which is rich in oil and natural resources – could be a model for democracy throughout Africa.

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