Campaigning starts as Mauritania readies for elections next month

Accra, August 17, (DPA/GNA) – Political
parties in Mauritania started their official campaigns Friday for legislative,
regional, and municipal elections set for next month.

Independents are not allowed to run in the
elections, which are being contested by the ruling Union for the Republic party
and the National Forum for Democracy and Unity, a coalition of 11 opposition
parties that boycotted the 2013 vote.

Contenders in the elections, which will be on
September 1, can campaign until August 30.

The polls will be the first time regional
councils are elected in the north-west African country.

They replace the upper house of parliament,
the Senate, which was abolished in a contested referendum last year, and
boycotted by a major opposition alliance.

The forthcoming polls are seen as a window
into how next year’s presidential election will unfold.

Should pro-government parties win a clear
majority in the 157-seat parliament, they could change the constitution, which
bars incumbent President Mohammed Ouled Abdel Aziz from running for a third
term.

The president, who was elected to a second
five-year term in 2014, on Friday called on Mauritanians to vote for the ruling
Union for the Republic party.

He has not confirmed yet if he will seek a
third term.

“This will guarantee the continuity of
development and fulfilment of more achievements in the country,” he said
in the capital, Nouakchott.

Nearly 1.5 million Mauritanians are eligible
to vote on September 1, according to official figures.

GNA

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