New cracks and rifts hit the Muslim Brotherhood in Mauritania… Details
Two members of the executive committee of the National Rally for Reform and Development (Tewassoul), the arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Mauritania, announced their resignation from the party. One of them directed a message to the party’s president, Hamadi Ould Sidi Mohamed, while the other promised to reveal the reasons for his resignation later.
According to the Mauritanian News website, the financial secretary of the executive committee and former parliamentary deputy, Mohamed Ould Taleb Nafi, announced his resignation from the party last Saturday. Meanwhile, the legal affairs secretary, Dr. Sidi Ould Aali, announced his resignation from the party last Sunday.
Ould Taleb Nafi was elected as a deputy in parliament for the Tintane constituency in the Hodh El Gharbi region during the previous term from 2018 to 2023. Dr. Ould Aali held a position in the executive bureau of Tawassoul over the past years.
According to informed sources cited by the London-based Arab newspaper, Ould Taleb Nafi is preparing to join the ruling Justice Party, especially since he is a prominent businessman, politician, and has social influence in the Tintane region and the Hodh El Gharbi area in general.
Observers believe that these two resignations represent a painful blow to the party. However, they come in the context of ongoing rifts for years, coinciding with the collapse of the political Islam project in the region. The Muslim Brotherhood in Mauritania failed to lead the country into the chaos that spread under the banner of the Arab Spring since 2011.
Observers point out that Tewassoul has lost key leaders from the first and second ranks and has lost a significant portion of its supporters in Mauritanian society. This has led to a decline in its presence in parliament, with only 11 seats out of 176 in the last legislative elections held in May.
In August of last year, the former party president, Mohamed Jamil Ould Mansour, announced his resignation from the party he had led for 12 years, sparking controversy over the reasons for the resignation. Ould Mansour said in his resignation letter that he decided to leave the party “after a pause in its struggle path due to observations, the first of which was the shocking results of the December 2022 conference.”
It is expected that the rate of resignations from the Brotherhood’s parties will increase in the coming period. The resignees are likely to turn to the ruling party, which has begun to dominate the political scene in Mauritania in an unprecedented manner. This coincides with the announcement of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani’s candidacy for a second presidential term.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Mauritania faces a state of division between the radical current that rejects any compromise with the authority and the current that is known for its proximity to ruling circles. The latter is mostly leaning towards joining the ruling party or forming a new party loyal to the existing system.
