I always wonder what political opposition means in a land of political instability. What does it mean the government when it is not for people? Is there a real alliance or initiative which would be metaphorically labeled as political opposition in Mauritania? Do not the government and opposition have the same ideologies but changing masks and altering the color of their skins in accordance with the prevailing situation….?
I think to understand the reason behind this political chaos which the postcolonial Mauritania has been going trough for decades, we need to go back in the ancient history of this land which is described in the books of history as the ‘the land of disorder’ which mean in Arabic ‘بلاد السيبة’, i.e. the land which has never been governed by a king or has never known any kind of central authority (government)…..
This description is still valuable and meaningful in the new Mauritania because the mentalities and the traditions of people did not change towards understanding the significance of a democratic regime or what does it mean to be elected by people for the common benefit of the people regardless to their races and ethnicities; while this was meant to be the alleged aim behind implementing democracy in the land of disorder….
In the 1990s’, democracy was introduced by a military regime which has marked a transition in the history of the contemporary Mauritania. This version of democracy proved later on its insufficiency and the infeasibility within a society where the tribe and blood kinship is stronger than any political regime that will ever happen to take place in Mauritania. This contradiction between being democratic and stick at the same time firmly to the old traditional outdated political authorities, including regionalism, nepotism, and tribalism is what makes the political opposition and the government almost the same….
Whenever there is any election to take place we see the political opposition trying to show that is still alive but it will die soon after the election, anguishing like a fire by means of being compromised and given some seats in the parliament by which they can speak in vain in order by the end of the day pass whatsoever bill proposed by the government without any reservation. The opposition does not show up until the last minutes or in occasions like begging the international backers….
During the previous weeks, we have witnessed some kind of negotiation and predisposition of negotiation between the government and the opposition about how to share the national cake that is still to be cooked and made outside; they have started negotiating how to include some and to exclude others with the debts that are to be given by the backers in Geneva next month….
This is obvious since we know that the origin of the political disagreement between the opposition and the government is a result of 50 million Euro which has been allocated to initiate some future projects in Mauritania and the government did not include that amount in the coming budget, so the opposition started to inquire about where that money has gone not for representing people but only to have a share as many of opposition activists stated bluntly in last week meeting. So, the opposition wants its share from the national cake that is why they want to take a hand into the national parade….
Yet, the opposition and the government know how to play the game according to certain rules imposed by the majority and negotiated by the opposition. This game has become a national parade in which the political parties sit to gather and decide upon their own future and never opt for the future of the nation, Mauritania. For, the future of those people who were alternatively exchanging power, money, and influence among them within their narrow circle of personal interests….
Needless to say that our political opposition is a part of the government since they stem from the same origin and belong to the tribe as the superior institution in Mauritanian, the opposition pretends to be against the government but applaud for it in the parliament. Our political opposition refuses to negotiate when the concern in internal and surrender if the aid is coming from outside....
I wonder again When this national parade will end and roll out serious dialogue for future long-term plans….?
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Our people, particulary those who are in the front, are in need of learning politics which serve the nation and not that are put to give individual privileges. it seems that most of the Mauritanian politicians became used to run after the Western bribes which intentionally and severely used to revive the differences to always make the nation dependent. unfortunately, the politicians fell in the trap and knew no way to free themselves, but to continue in that way which only leads to shame and the sunset and the sentence of the democrcy which has not yet born.
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