The Future of Mauritanian Politics
Since Mauritania attained its independence from France in 1960, it has experienced a series of military coups. The first of these was in 1978 when former president Moktar Ould Dadda was ousted in a bloodless coup and the latest one was carried out in August 2008 when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdullahi, the first freely elected president, was ousted by a coup led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.
Muna Abdalla, Senior Researcher, Conflict Prevention Programme, ISS Addis Ababa
Since Mauritania attained its independence from France in 1960, it
has experienced a series of military coups. The first of these was in
1978 when former president Moktar Ould Dadda was ousted in a bloodless
coup and the latest one was carried out in August 2008 when President
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdullahi, the first freely elected president, was
ousted by a coup led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.
The gut-reaction by the international community after the 2008 coup
was condemnation and then sanctions. The coup leaders proceeded with the
usual invalidation of the old regime through extra-legal means and
attempted to rally public support. A “transitional” government of
national unity was formed in June 26, 2009 and then the presidential
election was held in July 18, 2009. To contest the elections as a
“civilian” candidate, the coup leader, General Abdel Aziz had given up
power as president in April 2009.
Many international observers were monitoring the process, including
those from the African Union and Frenchspeaking countries. General Abdel
Aziz won the elections with a substantive lead of 52.47 % of the votes.
Next was parliamentary speaker Messaoud Ould Boulkheir with 16 percent,
followed by the opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah with 14% of the
vote. These results have meant that there was no need for a run-off, and
indicates clearly that there was no significant challenge to General
Abdel Aziz. Whether the election was free and fair is still a matter of a
heated debate.
The head of Mauritania’s electoral commission, Mr. Sid’Ahmed Ould
Deye, indicated that he had doubts and legitimate concerns over the
reliability of last month’s election results. Based on these concerns,
he resigned. The opposition parties too raised their concerns that the
polls were rigged, called it an “electoral coup” and lodged complaints
with the court. However, the court ruled that the vote was valid and
that no proof of fraud was found. The international community, including
the African Union, has enthusiastically welcomed the Mauritanian
election results. The European Union, the main aid donor to Mauritania,
asked the authorities to carry out a full investigation into the
allegations of electoral fraud. The likelihood at this point is that
General Abdel Aziz and his administration will remain in power for years
to come. But will General Abdel Aziz be able to tackle the root causes
of the vicious circle of coups and political instability in the country
or will he be deposed in a military coup like all of his predecessors?
Military interventionism has been historically a prominent feature of
Mauritanian political life, and the military has generally been
perceived as the most powerful institution in the country.
Political stability in Mauritania has always been a product of wider
concerns including poverty and inequality, social exclusion and lack of
means to participate in the country’s politics. Although Mauritania is a
resource-rich country, it nonetheless imports almost 70 % of its food
supplies from Europe, China and the US. It remains one of the world
poorest countries and the majority of the population lives on less than $
2 a day. This situation was recently aggravated by the global hikes in
prices of basic commodities including staple food, sugar and milk. For
the poorest section of the population who became even more impoverished,
their basic concern is to secure their daily livelihood. Previous
governments were seen to have done very little to ease their suffering
and this has fuelled a popular mood of frustration and bitterness.
President Abdel Aziz is capitalizing on this mood. He is portraying
himself as the “president of the poor,” cutting down the prices of
electricity, water, sugar and gas, and spending generously on
development projects in the rural and urban areas. For the ordinary
Mauritanians, these steps are very much welcomed, but one should also
question their sustainability. Mauritania’s economy is weak and depends
primarily on fishing, mining and agriculture. These in turn are very
vulnerable to exogenous factors including rainfall patterns, changes in
global commodity prices and the overuse of natural resources. The
recurrent drought has always resulted in a devastated impact because of
the heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture. Furthermore, although the
coastal waters offer very rich fishing grounds, overfishing has
nonetheless become a real problem. Moreover, the drop in oil production
dashed hopes of producing a surplus to allocate for social sector
spending.
Though the recent offshore oil exploration may improve the wellbeing
of some individuals, there will always be a group of Mauritanians who
will remain excluded from such wealth. Due to its historical background
and geographical location, Mauritania’s society has amalgamations of
distinct and essentially stratified ethnic groups that embrace little
social cohesion and national identity. Centuries of immigration of
different groups who fought for power and wealth, have left its residues
in the deep economic and social cleavage between white Moor, Black
Moor, and Black Africans. Any steps towards political stability should
first of all address the issue of social cohesion and national unity.
Yet, the issue of racial discrimination has always been a sensitive one
that leaders have always tried to avoid. Those who attempt to bring it
to the forefront were doomed. Former President Abdallahi’s concerns over
the discrimination against Black Africans in the society were believed
to be one of the reasons that angered the military institution and led
to the last coup. This could be taken to indicate the stand of the new
government from the issue of oppressed Blacks in the society.
Gender is also a sensitive issue despite the strong and active role
played by Mauritanian women in today’s society. In the 1997 presidential
election women constituted the majority of voters. General Ould Abdel
Aziz is playing his cards right on this front by appointing – for the
first time in Mauritania’s history – a woman to the post of Foreign
Minister. While there is no guarantee that a genuine steps to increase
women’s leadership will be taken in the future, appointing a prominent
woman in the new cabinet could nonetheless be valuable for women’s
efforts to attain equal rights. On the other hand, her appointment has
generated dissatisfaction from the Islamist movements who denounced the
decision on the basis of Quran scripture and hadith. In general, the new
government has no intention to satisfy Islamic movements or the
Mauritanian Salafists. It was widely believed that one of the reasons
that led to the coup was related to former President Abdallahi’s growing
closeness to Islamists. During his last few months in power Mr.
Abdallahi’s government had began a dialogue with the Islamists and had
released Islamic extremists from prisons. Although the US had previously
shown dislike for General Ould Abdel Aziz, it seems to have endorsed
his victory and to be willing to work with him.
The new government now needs to build a professional military to
prevent its continued intervention in politics. Future political
stability of the country will also be determined by the genuine steps
towards recognizing and addressing inequalities and previous grievances.
