Last modified: 2016-11-10 by rob raeside
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The ruling party in Mauritania, Union pour la République (UPR), has proposed
to amend the national flag by the addition of a thin red stripe at the top and
bottom. The stripes symbolize "the efforts and sacrifices that the people of
Mauritania will keep consenting, to the price of their blood, to defend their
territory".
The proposal was part of a more general project of
institutional reform presented during the Conference on Inclusive Dialogue.
Inaugurated on 29 September 2010, the conference rallied the ruling party and
the "moderate" opposition, here the Alliance populaire progressiste (APP), while
the "radical" opposition refused to join. The proposed reform also included the
adoption of a new national anthem and the proclamation of the Second Republic.
Observers quickly pointed out that the Constitution would be automatically
invalidated, especially the Articles prohibiting the President of the Republic
to run for a third mandate. The second mandate of President Mohamed Ould Abdel
Aziz (elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2014) should end in 2019; the
announcement of the reform, accordingly, was probably not a mere coincidence.
The suspicion of "Constitutional coup" was confirmed by a declaration of the
government's spokesperson, Mohamed Lemine Ould Cheikh, who said that "mandate
limitation was an anti-democratic principle". This statement prompted Messaoud
Ould Boulkheir, the historical leader of the APP, to withdraw in the beginning
of October from the conference, which he called a "farce".
http://www.pointschauds.info/fr/2016/10/06/le-parti-au-pouvoir-propose-un-nouveau-drapeau-pour-la-mauritanie/
- Points Chauds Online, 8 October 2016
http://afrique.le360.ma/mauritanie/politique/2016/10/09/6298-mauritanie-la-2e-republique-une-diversion-pour-un-3e-mandat-presidentiel-6298
- 9 October 2016
Ivan Sache, 17 October 2016