Nouakchott, March 16, 2019 – Former prime minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar on Saturday announced he would stand in Mauritania’s presidential election as an “independent candidate”, but with support from the opposition Islamist party Tewassoul. He was prime minister from 1992-1996 and again in 2005-2007. He will be running against former general Ould Ghazouani, a close ally of current President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Despite weeks of talks, the Mauritanian opposition have failed to come up with a unity candidate to take on the ruling Union for the Republic (UPR) party candidate. Instead, each party is fielding a candidate while “coordinating” positions, especially if a second round-run off vote is required.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 17, 2019 23:48 UTC