A few hours ago, Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, the National Director of Security of Mauritania, launched himself into power and shut his boss, President Maaoya Taya, out of Nouakchott.
This action, brought the 21-year rule of Taya to a dramatic and calculated end, in this 3 million peopled desert of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
It must however be early, quickly and clearly pointed out before the euphoria subsides, that Colonel Vall and his 16-member Military Junta for 'Justice and Democracy', have arrived a little too late, on the stage of political history.
Much as the people of Mauritania may have been wearied by the lack-lustre regime of Taya, as it was begining to show through an unprecedentedly free and fair elections of 2003, the unconstitutional overthrow of this elected government is nothing but a hijack of due democratic process by an ambitious self-appointed messiahnic group of the specialized paramilitary gendarmerie, known as Presidential Guards, headed by Vall.
Though, Taya's Democratic Social Republican Party (PRDS) still holds sway with a 79% majority in the legislature, the begining of real opposition by about 15 political parties that contested the last elections with growing sympaties amongst the populace, has dawned on Mauritania. There is no way Taya and his party would have won a fourth straight victory at the next elections using the yardstick of the last polls of 2003.
It this growing popular democracy that the ambitious elements in the Mauritanian Army attempts to abort. It is very probable that colonel Vall and his junta would try to seek popular base of support by anti-western sentiments, but this political line, if towed, would spell untold disaster for the new regime. Ask Sadam, who tried it in 1991 and was humiliated for it.
The questions which this self-styled 'Justice and Democracy' Messiahs of the 3 million poverty-sapped people of Muritania could not or ever answer in the days to come are: What happens to the legislative elections due next year, 2006? What happens to the 20 seats- 21%of the National Assembly and the Senate, controlled by the opposition parties? Is the 2-year time-table of restoration of 'true elections' by the junta not a ploy to gain a breathing space and legitimise its own rule? After 18 years in the saddle as National security Director, Is Colonel Vall just realising now that Taya is 'dictatorial and repressive'?
Could it be that the real lure for the junta to take over power is the recently discovered one billion barrels deposit of crude oil? Can we be assured that junta greed for self-enrichment is not traceable to the 30 billion cubit feet of natural gas just discovered? Wont this make the junta to prolong and postpone the promised 'true elctions' like in the case of its Nigerian counterpart which plauged and devoured national and peoples resouces for 30 years before being forced to abdicate power? Can Colonel Vall boldly tell the world that this coup was not the climax of his carefully planned ambition of 6 years ago that got a fillip when he travelled to all the 12 regions(Wilaya) of Mauritania in 1999, as the commander of the militarized police force, to inspect and reinforce (prepare) them for this day?
One thing though is certain, our people in Africa are tired of the musical chairs of dictators. We yearn for true development and progress. We are not ready for another experimental adventure in failure in the hands of some opportunistic leaders.
Aderemi Ojikutu (Aderaskeey) is a Motivational Author and Youth Mentor. He is a minister of the Word of God. A political economist and political leader. He is President of the TREASURE WRITERS CLUB in Nigeria (http://treasurewriters.50megs.com). He is also the current President of the National Democratic Forum (N.D.F). He was National Mobilisation Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (N.A.N.S) for several years. A revolutionary of over two decades, he was also the political secretary of the defunct Nigerian Labour Party in 1991.
limousine Ackley .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAs global warming continues to escalate the concerns of today's... Read More
Here is an interesting thought; Corn to make Plastic An... Read More
Is the Federal Trade Commission really stopping SPAM? Is the... Read More
Indonesia's Energy Minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, is unhappy with the modest... Read More
A Governmental commission, headed personally by the Prime Minister has... Read More
September 11, 2001 could have been prevented. We could have... Read More
The US-backed Road Map peace plan had no real chance... Read More
The original vulgarity was bylined: ?The Constipation of America's Mid-East... Read More
As more and more cities and states set up websites... Read More
The US Dollar has been falling continuously in last year.... Read More
The evacuation of Gaza is now completed, and the world... Read More
Which companies are most affected by fuel? Who really bears... Read More
What depth of blind insanity has inflicted itself upon Israel's... Read More
In order to win the presidency in America, candidates must... Read More
The filibuster has been a tool available to U.S. Senators... Read More
I read an interesting article in foreign Affairs magazine last... Read More
As you know Delta Airlines is close to bankruptcy. Their... Read More
UK Water RatesYOU CANNOT BE DISCONNECTED FOR WATER RATES DEBTSWater... Read More
Back-Dooring the CSIS:The US and Israel have admitted they back-doored... Read More
This is the fourth and final article in a series... Read More
How do you feel about Terminator Seeds from Monsanto? I... Read More
Have you noticed that the when the service men who... Read More
I always have to remember to take a deep breath... Read More
It is a law that we register deadly weapons with... Read More
An interesting conversation that I thought I must share with... Read More
shuttle from O'Hare Alexander ..Have you noticed that the when the service men who... Read More
I always have to remember to take a deep breath... Read More
INTRODUCTIONThe aim of writing this article is to encourage the... Read More
It appears the Feds are suing Elliot Spitzer over his... Read More
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men desire power. Give power to... Read More
Proposed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act ("SDA") 1975 and... Read More
Many very nice and loving homosexual male couples want to... Read More
To be justified, taxes should satisfy a few conditions:Above all,... Read More
Bill Cosby got it wrong. His many speeches regarding the... Read More
Legislation was introduced into Congress this week that would establish... Read More
The gun control debate in America is a battle between... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission in their latest move to increase... Read More
There's a new Michigan state register (at https://www.protectmichild.com/) in the... Read More
1. Why is it that no one seems to notice,... Read More
The Carl Rove issue is definitely interesting and distracting. The... Read More
The recent first round of the Iranian elections somewhat resembled... Read More
At the start of the US involvement in WWII Joseph... Read More
The trade deficit with Canada is now 50 Billion per... Read More
As I read the papers and watch the news day... Read More
From the National Association of Realtors' Virtual Office Website policy,... Read More
Continued thoughts while driving down the road in a huge... Read More
It looks overall like the liberals are advocating for no... Read More
Prosecutors with political ambitions are known to modify the truth... Read More
The process of researching this topic has been an interesting... Read More
Handing over power to Vladimir Putin in 1999, Boris Yeltsin... Read More
Political |