2023 Mauritanian regional elections

2023 Mauritanian regional elections

← 2018 13 May 2023
285 seats in 13 regional councils
Turnout	71.48% (1.14pp)
Party Vote % Seats +/– El Insaf 43.13 123 −44 Tewassoul 13.49 37 +6 UDP 7.64 28 +4 El Islah 4.70 15 +15 Sawab–RAG 4.28 12 +11 AND 2.88 11 +10 El Karama 2.71 10 +8 HATEM 2.07 7 −14 UFP 1.68 5 +2 Hope MR 1.60 4 New APP 1.58 3 0 El Vadila 1.52 4 +2 NW 1.19 4 +4 RFD 1.18 2 +1 AJD/MR+ 1.12 3 −3 PMM 1.06 2 +2 Ribat 0.86 3 +3 HIWAR 0.86 4 +4 El Ravah 0.85 2 +2 CAP 0.78 1 New CED 0.67 1 New PSJN 0.53 1 +1 PUD 0.37 1 New PRDR 0.37 1 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Control of regional administrations before the election      El Insaf-led government

Regional elections were held in Mauritania on 13 May 2023, alongside parliamentary and local elections.^[1][2]

The elections were the first regional elections held after the first peaceful transition of power in the country as a result of the 2019 presidential elections, in which Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was elected president after incumbent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was not able to run due to the two-term constitutional limit.

Regional councils were first elected in Mauritania in 2018 following a 2017 constitutional referendum that abolished the Senate, replacing it with regional councils in every wilaya and a single one for the city of Nouakchott.

Those first 2018 regional elections led to the ruling party Union for the Republic (which rebranded as El Insaf in July 2022) taking control of all regional councils with an absolute majority thanks to the two-round system then applied to elect regional councils.

On 26 September 2022 an agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation and all political parties registered in Mauritania was reached in order to renew the Independent National Electoral Commission and hold the elections in the first semester of 2023, with parties justifying it due to climatic and logistical conditions.^[3][4]

On 26 September 2022 all Mauritanian political parties reached an agreement sponsored by the Ministry of Interior and Decentralisation to reform the election system ahead of the upcoming elections after weeks of meetings between all parties.^[4]

In this election, regional councils will be elected in a single round using proportional representation through the largest remainder method, with no threshold being applied. The head of the list that gets the most votes will automatically become president of the regional council.^[4][5]

The following table lists party control in each regional council. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

Party			Votes	%	Seats
	El Insaf		433,556	43.13%	124
		National Rally for Reform and Development (Tewassoul)	133,265	13.26%	35
		National Rally for Reform and Development, Sawab and allies (Tewassoul-Sawab)[a]	2,311	0.23%	2
	Total for Tewassoul-led lists		135,576	13.49%	37
	Union for Democracy and Progress (UDP)		76,803	7.64%	28
	El Islah		47,252	4.70%	15
		Sawab and allies (Sawab+)	40,638	4.04%	11
		Sawab, allies, Republican Front for Unity and Democracy and allies (Sawab-FRUD)[b]	2,442	0.24%	1
	Total for Sawab+-led lists		43,080	4.28%	12
	National Democratic Alliance (AND)		28,902	2.88%	11
	El Karama		27,230	2.71%	10
	Mauritanian Party of Union and Change (HATEM)		20,827	2.07%	7
		Union of the Forces of Progress (UFP)	13,954	1.39%	4
		Union of the Forces of Progress and Rally of Democratic Forces (UFP-RFD)[c]	1,885	0.19%	1
		Union of the Forces of Progress, Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal and allies (UFP-AJD/MR+)[d]	653	0.06%	0
		Union of the Forces of Progress, Rally of Democratic Forces, Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal and allies (UFP-RFD-AJD/MR+)[e]	374	0.04%	0
	Total for UFP-led lists		16,866	1.68%	5
		Republican Front for Unity and Democracy and allies (Hope Mauritania)	14,205	1.41%	3
		Republican Front for Unity and Democracy, allies and People's Progressive Alliance (FRUD-APP)[f]	1,949	0.19%	1
	Total for Hope Mauritania-led lists		16,154	1.60%	4
	People's Progressive Alliance (APP)		15,913	1.58%	3
	El Vadila		15,313	1.52%	4
	Nida El Watan		11,957	1.19%	4
	Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD)		11,906	1.18%	2
	Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal and allies (AJD/MR+)		11,227	1.12%	3
	Party of the Mauritanian Masses (PMM)		10,612	1.06%	2
	National Cohesion for Rights and the Construction of Generations (Ribat)		8,673	0.86%	3
	Party of Conciliation and Prosperity (HIWAR)		8,627	0.86%	4
	El Ravah		8,575	0.85%	2
	Centre through Action for Progress (CAP)		7,821	0.78%	1
	Union for Planning and Building and allies (State of Justice)		6,748	0.67%	1
	Burst of Youth for the Nation (PSJN)		5,329	0.53%	1
	Party of Unity and Development (PUD)		3,707	0.37%	1
	Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal (PRDR)		2,922	0.29%	1
	Party of Construction and Progress (PCP)		2,180	0.22%	0
Blank votes			27,429	2.73%
Valid votes			1,005,185	79.71%
Null votes			255,880	20.29%
Seats				2	285
Turnout			1,261,065	71.48%
Abstentions			503,094	28.52%
Registered voters			1,764,159
Source: National Independent Election Commission (CENI)[6]
Footnotes: ^ Tewassoul and Sawab ran together in Tiris Zemmour. ^ Sawab and FRUD ran together in Assaba. ^ UFP and RFD ran together in Dakhlet Nouadhibou. ^ UFP and AJD/MR+ ran together in Tiris Zemmour. ^ UFP, RFD and AJD/MR+ ran together in Inchiri. ^ FRUD and APP ran together in Tiris Zemmour.