Mauritania unveils limited government reshuffle

NOUAKCHOTT

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz has unveiled a limited cabinet reshuffle that saw the departure of four ministers while four others took different ministerial portfolios.

A presidential decree, carried by the state-run TV, said that the reshuffle involved the ministries of foreign affairs, culture, African and expatriates' affairs, finance, energy, employment, water resources and sports.

According to the decree, Vatma Vall Mint Soueinie would take the foreign affairs portfolio, leaving the culture one to Hind Mint Eynayn, who also used to serve as the minister of African and expatriates' affairs.

Mohamed Salem Ould Bechir and Mohamed Ould Khouna also traded posts with the former becoming the energy minister and the latter becoming the water resources' one.

The reshuffle came two weeks after Abdel-Aziz urged forces from across Mauritania's political spectrum to engage in dialogue with the aim of "achieving the nation's best interest" – a call that has been snubbed by the opposition.

The opposition had boycotted last summer's presidential elections in which Abdel-Aziz won a second term in office after defeating veteran activist Biram Dah Abeid, though the latter had accused the electoral commission of rigging the votes in favor of his opponent.

Having ruled since 2009, Abdel-Aziz, a former army general, played a key role in two military coups that toppled Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya and elected Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

He, however, would not be able to run in the next presidential elections in the light of the constitution, which limits the terms a president can have in office to two.