To ‘midwife’ – and abort – a democracy: Mauritania's transition from military rule, 2005–2008

Abstract

The 3 August 2005 military coup was Mauritania's best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics. This article critically analyses relevant aspects of the transition that ensued in the context of the prevailing models of military withdrawal from politics in Africa. It also examines the challenges that Mauritania's short-lived Third Republic faced. It argues that the transition process did not escape the well-known African military junta leader's proclivity to manipulate transitions to fulfil suddenly awakened self-seeking political ambitions, in violation of solemn promises. While there was no old-fashioned ballot stuffing to decide electoral outcomes, Mauritania's junta leader and his lieutenants spared no effort to keep the military very much involved in politics, and to perpetuate a strong sense of entitlement to political power. Originally designed as an ingenious ‘delayed self-succession’ of sorts, in the end, another coup aborted Mauritania's democratisation process and threw its institutions in a tailspin. This only exacerbated the challenges that have saddled Mauritania's political system and society for decades – unhealthy civil-military relations, a dismal ‘human rights deficit’, terrorism, and a neo-patrimonial, disastrously mismanaged economy.

The flexible use of democracy in an Islamic Republic: The case of the Mauritanian President Abdel Aziz (2009–2019)

“…Nevertheless, Aziz's Mauritania remains an interesting case study that can be drawn on by different fields (particularly political studies), as evidenced by Ould Cheikh's research on the 'mirror of the Sultan' (2019), Ould Ahmed Salem's work on new conceptions and perceptions (1998,1999,2020), Villasante's studies on the involvement of tribal identities (2013), Lesourd and Antil's research on Aziz's mode of governance (2009, 2014), and Pettigrew and Evrard's (2019 work on the Mauritanian political system. Notes 1 Immediately following his takeover and the overthrowing of Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi, Aziz found himself ostracized by the international community, and an internal front was set up for the first time to thwart military action.…”

The Right to Democracy in the Age of Global Constitutionalism

“…765 By the same token, N'Diaye asserted in the context of the 3 August 2005 Mauritanian putsch that it was the 'best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics' and that it was 'a model for political reform' in Arab North Africa. 766 Likewise, Williams interrogated 'whether bloodless coups d'état that topple authoritarian regimes may advance the [African] Union's stated goal of democratisation'. 767 That coups against authoritarian regimes are desired is also affirmed by some scholars criticising the AU unprincipled policy of condemnation of every military coup irrespective of its democratic credentials.…”

Even Generals Need Friends

“…These reactions stood in stark contrast to the flood of people who took to the streets to celebrate the strongman’s ouster (British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] 2005). Able to withstand international condemnation, the junta leaders held onto power until elections in 2007, which saw the junta-supported Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi come to power (N’Diaye 2009). These cases fit with Omorogbe’s (2011) more general overview of the AU’s anticoup efforts, which suggest that the positive influences associated with public support for the removal of dictators is being undermined by hostile international reactions.…”