Mauritanian president says he will not run for 3rd term

By Mohamed al-Bakay

NOUAKCHOTT

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has announced he will not run for a third term in office.

The declaration comes one day before a controversial referendum, slated for Saturday, in which citizens will vote on a raft of constitutional amendments proposed by Ould Abdel Aziz’s ruling party.

Mauritanian opposition parties, for their part, have vowed to boycott the vote and stage demonstrations to protest the president’s policies.

Addressing thousands of supporters late Thursday evening, Ould Abdel Aziz said that the opposition’s claims that he planned to run for a third term as president were “not factual”.

“What they are saying -- that I will run for a third term -- are mere lies,” he asserted.

Defending the proposed amendments, he said the changes were aimed at “promoting the country’s development and raising citizens’ standards of living”.

He also accused opposition groups planning to boycott the poll of “attempting to destabilize the country, thus threatening citizens’ security”.

Turning his wrath to opposition lawmakers, Ould Abdel Aziz accused them of being “caught up in bribery cases”, describing the dissolution of the Mauritanian Senate -- which one of the proposed constitutional changes calls for -- as a “necessary step”.

Notably, the senate already rejected the proposed changes in a March vote -- a move to which the president responded by announcing plans to hold a public referendum on the issue.

In March, the National Forum for Democracy and Unity, Mauritania’s largest opposition coalition, accused Ould Abdel Aziz of “defying democratic legitimacy” by putting draft constitutional changes to a popular vote after they had already been rejected by the legislature.

If enacted, the changes would abolish Mauritania’s High Court of Justice; establish a system of regional administrative councils; adopt a proportional system in national elections; change Mauritania’s national flag; and institute a unicameral -- rather than bicameral -- parliament.

Protests

As Ould Abdel Aziz addressed supporters on Thursday night, demonstrations against the president and his policies erupted elsewhere in the capital.

Reportedly attended by several opposition leaders, the demonstrations were eventually dispersed amid copious teargas fired by security forces.

Ould Abdel Aziz seized power in a 2008 military coup. One year later, he won a presidential election the integrity of which has been questioned by critics.