Mauritania opposition fails to choose single candidate

Mauritanian opposition parties have failed to agree on a single candidate to run in the country’s upcoming presidential election.

Leaders of the 11-party opposition coalition met on Tuesday to discuss their candidate in the polls, but they failed to reach an agreement, opposition sources said Wednesday.

“It was clear since the beginning of the meeting that it was very difficult to reach an agreement,” one of the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Mohamed Ould Mouloud, leader of the Union of Forces for Progress, a coalition member, said the coalition partners have agreed to adopt a multi-candidate strategy instead of supporting a single candidate.

In mid-January, incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz announced that he would not seek a new term and called for a halt to all initiatives calling for amending the constitution with a view to extending it.

The date for the presidential election has yet to be announced, but it is supposed to be held before the end of the second term of the current president in June 2019.