The electoral campaign for the presidential election on June 29 officially starts at midnight on the night of Thursday to Friday and will run until June 27.
Six candidates are challenging the current president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, whose party overwhelmingly won the last legislative, municipal, and regional elections in May 2023, securing 107 out of 176 seats in Parliament.
The goal for the electoral commission is, among other things, to organize transparent elections in a calm atmosphere.
El Ghazouani, who has been leading the country since 2019, is the favorite to win a second term.
The candidacy of the former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been rejected. Despite an exceptional court authorization to submit his candidacy, the Constitutional Council rejected Aziz's application due to an insufficient number of endorsements and other technical reasons, reports the African news agency.
Other candidates include Hamadi Ould Sid’ El Moctar, leader of the opposition Islamist party Tewassoul, and Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, a human rights activist who came second in the 2019 presidential election.
