Former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has been disqualified from the June 29 presidential election due to a lack of necessary sponsorship, his spokesman, Mohamed Ould Djibril, announced according to the Associated Press. Djibril criticized the sponsorship system as undemocratic, stating, "This blocking by the authorities is undemocratic." He added that ten other candidates had suffered the same treatment.
Aziz, who led Mauritania until 2019, planned to run against his successor, President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who was previously his protégé before the two men fell out. In 2023, Aziz was sentenced to five years in prison for illicit enrichment.
The government mandated that presidential candidates secure approvals from municipal councillors and mayors, a challenge for most opposition parties except the Islamist Tewassoul party. Opposition parties, including Aziz, condemned the law as unjust and accused the government of manipulating the election process.
Even with sponsorships, Aziz’s candidacy was uncertain. According to the Constitution, a president can only be re-elected once, and Aziz has already served two terms.
To combat cross-border crime, Morocco and Saudi Arabia signed three new agreements in Riyadh on Wednesday, focusing on bolstering collaboration
Officials from the foreign ministries of Egypt and Turkey convened this week to discuss Somalia, Libya, and broader cooperation in
According to reporting by the EU Observer the EU appears set to rebuild its presence in Africa’s Sahel region
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty arrived in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for talks with top officials. He said Cairo
Sign up for the weekly newsletter and get our latest stories delivered straight to your inbox.
