Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

The military coup in Mauritania seems to have caused more outrage amongst the international community than in Mauritania itself. The outrage of President Abdellahi’s daughter who hasn’t been able to speak to her father since he was arrested,, (and doesn’t even know where he is), is understandable. The generals who have seized power have presented themselves as the true arbiters of democracy in the country. They can claim that it was elements of the military who usshered in the country’s democratic experiment. Those whom they have replaced were, in contrast, not true democrats but simply greedy individuals who tried to yoke the country’s institutions to the narrow and selfish interests of their own family. Indeed one of the numerous parliamentarians who has come out in favour of the coup has claimed that President Abdellahi had turned the country into a family firm, where all important, influential and lucrative posts were given to relatives.

The problems of jobs being awarded not on the basis of what you know but who you are is prevalent in all countries, including the so-called liberal and democratric Irish Republic. It is often frustrating to observe the ease with which family members and relatives of politicians, whether in national or local government, acquire “good” jobs. Yet everyone knows that those who are often most bitter about such nepotism would be just as liable to introduce such a system benefitting their own members if granted the opportunity to replace that which exists at present. In this regard poor Mauritania and relatively affluent Ireland are very similar countries and societies. closer than some might like to admit.