The faded star of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz L'Afrique en questions, n° 23, May 3 2016
The Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was elected in 2009. The architect of two successful coups: in 2005 against President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, and in 2008 against President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi, nowadays he is in his second and last term of office according to the Mauritanian constitution. He is viewed by the country's partners as one of the key figures in the stability of the Sahel. However, the international community does not see, or pretends not to see, the weakening of his regime.
The harsh question of a post-second term of office arises for him; an issue which is shaping Mauritanian political life. Capitalising on his "security success", the president has been able to make the international community accept his coup in 2008 against a president elected a year earlier and who he was however largely instrumental in installing as head of state. Behind the image of a president who is the "strong link in the Sahel", some governance mistakes are starting to bear bitter fruit. We will concentrate on his economic governance in particular, after having tried to envisage post-second term scenarios.