Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

The leaders of the coup in Mauritania have announced plans for a “relaunch” of democracy in the country through elections which they promise will be free and fair. The subtext of the announcement is of course that the democracy which had been effective since the polls of last year was not to their liking. After the coup of August 2005 which launched the country’s first democratic elections the army leaders announced early on that they had no intention of standing in the polls and that their role would be to supervise the transition leading to elections. It seems that General Abdel Aziz does not intend to pursue such a hands-off policy, regardless of whether he stands in subsequent elections or not, and that whoever comes out victorious from these polls must govern in partnership with the army.

The response of the international community to the coup has been predictable – full of sound and fury, but signifying sweet FA. The EU has threatened to suspend aid to the country, a move which would only harm ordinary Mauritanians.

The response of the African political community has been more interesting. Many of today’s African presidents owe their positions to military coups, something which they might want to forget as they swap their military fatigues for business suits. Yet the tone has been unflinchingly condamnatory. Take the editorial in the Gabonese government paper L’Union, carried in part by Le Monde. “Nothing justifies the military coup led by the ex-chief of the Republican Guard … The crisis which affected the President’s party was not threatening in a dangerous manner the stability of the country … the presidential election of 2007 had been declared a model of democracy.”  In an analysis piece entitled: “Putsches and the Khaki order no longer have any place in Africa” the paper continues The thesis according to which it is only men in combat uniform who can save the country from chaos is no more than eye wash. … On the black continent the great speechless one (the army) must remain in its place from now on so as to be the great preserver of discipline and so merit citizens’ respect and sympathy.”