Mauritania Heads To The Polls

Mauritanians will this week head to the polls to elect a new president following the end of President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz’s second five-year term.

Abdel Aziz came to power in a coup in 2008 but has agreed to step down in accordance with constitutional term limits. If the election passes off smoothly it will be the country’s first democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

Voters will have a choice between six candidates, which include former prime ministers Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, ruling party candidate Mohamed Ahmed Oudl Ghazouani and anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid.