Nov. 27 (GIN) – Following five months convalescing in France from a gunshot wound apparently at the hands of his own security forces, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz returned home to a the local version of a ticker-tape parade.
But not all is quiet in the West African country, neighbor to Mali. Critics of military rule say that the army continues to run the nation as it has done for more than 40 years. “Today it’s not just a coincidence if everyone thinks it’s the army chief of staff who has the power,” said Khadiata Malik Diallo of the Union of the Forces of Progress during an opposition rally on Nov. 1 in Nouakchott.
On Nov. 6, activists from the February 25 movement distributed 10,000 fliers denouncing “dictatorship.” Some commentators saw the episode of Abdel Aziz’s absence as one that, in Professor Boubacar N’diaye’s words, “reveals [a] military regime parading as a democracy.”
Coincidentally, the health of the Senate President, Ba Ahmadou Lambare also appears to be at risk, a Mauritanian blogger by the name “The Moor Next Door” noted.
“The coming days will prove that Abdel Aziz is physically incapable just as he has always been politically, to lead the country and that his return will only complicate the chances for a solution to the country’s crisis,” said Saleh Ould Henenna of the Coordination of Democratic Opposition.
Abdel Aziz had been travelling in an unmarked vehicle when he came across a mobile army checkpoint outside the capital. His failure to stop led Lieutenant Elhaj Ould H’Moudy, who was dressed in plainclothes, to open fire.
H’Moudy has said it was a mistake, and has not been punished, with government accepting the shooting was an accident.
The President responded: “I am not in the same shape as I was before the accident, but I still have all my mental and physical faculties and it is me who is leading the country.” National elections are scheduled for 2014.
Meanwhile, Mauritania is resisting pressure to line up with regional leaders and France planning to send a force of 3,300 troops to drive the Islamists out of the north. The intervention plan is awaiting approval from the United Nations.