Elections in Mauritania: President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani is re-elected, according to provisional results

Mauritanian President Mohamed ould Ghazouani was re-elected as head of state following Saturday’s national vote, according to provisional results.

The electoral commission’s website says he received 56% of the vote, beating six opposition candidates.

Anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid came in second with 22% of the vote, while Hamadi Sidi el-Mokhtar of the Islamist Tewassoul party came third with 13% of the vote.

Analysts expected him to win the election in the first round.

The president, a former army chief, is credited with bringing stability since his first election five years ago after decades of political unrest and frequent coups.

It has allied itself with Western partners such as France and the United States, but has also maintained ties with military-led neighbors including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which have moved closer to Russia in recent years.

Mauritania has largely avoided the Islamist insurgencies that have affected neighboring Sahel states.

On Sunday, Mr Abeid said he would not recognise the results, calling them an “electoral coup”.

“We will not accept the results of the so-called independent electoral commission. We will use our own electoral commission to proclaim the results,” Abeid told reporters, according to the AFP news agency.

Mr. Abeid, whose grandparents were slaves and who spent much of his life campaigning against the practice in the country, was running for president for the third time.

He came second in the 2019 elections, also won by Mr Ghazouani.

Mr. Abeid and other opposition candidates have alleged irregularities in that election, leading to small-scale protests.

Ahead of this year’s election, third-place candidate Mokhtar warned that his party would not accept the results if it suspected rigging, the AFP news agency reported.

Turnout in the election was about 55%, according to the poll website.