The second round of legislative, municipal and regional elections got underway in Mauritania on Saturday. Held under tight security, the elections are an opportunity for the ruling party to strengthen its majority in the 157-seat parliament. Some 1.5 Mauritanians will head to the polls held in 129 districts in the follow up to the first round of elections that were held two weeks ago. President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whose second and final term ends next year, hopes to keep the ruling party in power in the 2019 presidential election. His Union for the Republic party secured a majority in parliament by winning 67 seats. It is competing for 22 more in the second round of elections. It only needs to secure 12 seats to obtain an absolute majority at the legislature and consequently hold sway over the formation of a new government. The opposition meanwhile, won a third of the seats.