POLITICS in Mauritania has been difficult over the past four months. The national unity government was sacked in May after protests over soaring food prices; the next government resigned before it lost a vote of confidence just two weeks ago. But that is no excuse for the military to seize power and arrest President Ould Sheikh Abdallahi and his Prime Minister Yahia Ould Ahmed El-Ouakef.
Mauritania has had a history of coups since independence in 1960; the rest of the world tacitly accepted them, most recently three years ago when virtually the same generals who seized power three days ago overthrew the regime of Ould Taya. But this coup is different. If Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdul Aziz, who has led it, imagines that the rest of the world is going to quietly accept the situation, as it did last time, he is about to find out that he is sorely mistaken. It may seem very similar to 2005, when the UN, the African Union and the US all condemned the coup against Taya and then did nothing. But unlike Taya who had seized power 20 years earlier and was regarded as a dictator, President Abdallahi was not only democratically elected two years ago, it was the country’s first free and fair election ever.
That makes every difference and the coup wholly unacceptable. There is every reason to believe, then, that the swift condemnations that have flown from the UN, the African Union, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the US and the EU are not going to prove hollow this time. Already the EU is threatening to suspend aid.
Others must follow, including Arab governments from which Mauritania receives a significant proportion of financial help. The coup cannot be seen as a matter of little importance in a far-away country; Mauritania is a member of the Arab League and of the OIC. What the generals have done is a slap in the face for both organizations. To do nothing about it would send a message that overthrowing legitimate governments does not matter. It does.
The army has to understand that it if does not reinstate President Abdallahi and return to barracks, the country is going to be shunned by the world and the aid taps turned off. The OIC has called for the restoration of the democratic process as soon as possible, including an immediate release of the president, the prime minister and other members of the government.
Threatening aid is no easy decision to take. Mauritania is one of the world’s poorest countries; ordinary Mauritanians could suffer as a result. All the more reason, then, to come down hard on the generals now, before any aid bans take effect.
It is not just a matter of the generals surrendering; it is time for the army to be depoliticized. It has to become the servant of the government, not its master. That is one of the golden rules of political legality the world over. President Abdallahi was not only within his rights to dismiss Gen. Abdul Aziz, the No. 2 in the 2005 coup, and three other top army figures — the trigger for the coup — he was right to do so. They largely orchestrated the present political crisis and the no-confidence vote in the government. For them, there can be no return to barracks; their dismissal must stand. They can be pardoned and that would be the wise option. But they cannot be allowed back into the army. That would be a victory for them. It would legitimize their coup and provide a dangerous precedent for the future.
