More than 1.7 million Mauritanians are voting today to elect a new president to rule the country for the next 5 years.
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According to the final list published by Mauritania’s Constitutional Council on 20 May, seven candidates are vying for the post, including outgoing President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, 67, of the Insef party, which will rule Mauritania from 2019.

Six other candidates are running in the presidential election: Biram Ould Abeid, 58, who belongs to the Haratine community (oasis dwellers in Mauritania’s Sahara desert), Mamadou Bocari Ba, who belongs to the negro  minority, Atouma Antoine Souleymane Soumare, a doctor, Hammadi Ould Sidi Mokhtar, 49, a lawyer and preacher, Mohamed Lemine El Morteji Elouafi, an accountant, and Aid Mohamedan Embarek, 45, a first-time candidate who graduated from the National Law School in Paris.