The Mauritanian President Raises the Slogan “Fight Against Corruption
An Opposition Deputy Affirms His Aim to Displace the Current Regime on the Grounds That It Is "Incompetent and Corrupt"
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazaouani pledged to “fight corruption, bribery, and encroachments on public funds” during his announcement on Wednesday evening of his candidacy for a second term in the Mauritanian presidential elections scheduled for June 29. El Ghazaouani stated in a message addressed to the people, relayed by local and international media, that he had decided to heed the call of duty, keen on continuing to serve the country by consolidating important gains, opening new workshops, and launching reforms and infrastructure projects, affirming that his upcoming mission “will be with and for the youth.”
El Ghazaouani added that he would strike with an iron hand and confront with all strength and rigor all paths and practices of corruption, “and for this, with the beginning of the next term, all necessary measures will be taken to mobilize administrative, supervisory, and judicial bodies to achieve this goal,” explaining that he is well aware “of the current shortcomings of our administration in terms of training, as well as the proliferation of practices contrary to professional ethics, hence the focus in the next stage will be on implementing a comprehensive program of training and modernizing administration, through digitization, simplification, and acceleration of administrative services.”
El Ghazaouani also spoke about the achievements made during his tenure in several areas, in addition to the broad outlines of the visions framing his electoral program for the second term, stating that he “has worked since day one with all strength, sincerity, and without fatigue, on the faithful implementation of the requirements of the electoral contract on which he was elected,” distancing himself in all that he has accomplished for this people from “personalization, improvisation, populism, and cheap political exploitation,” reaffirming once again that his upcoming mission “will be for the youth.”
El Ghazaouani stated that his “supreme goal is to achieve national unity and support the factors of social harmony, to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and kinship among the various components of the people,” adding that national unity is “the basis of our stability, our first defensive line, and our impregnable fortress against all challenges. I will continue to work to integrate economically and socially fragile categories and improve their living conditions.”
El Ghazaouani added that “no reform he has adopted, no project or program he has implemented, does not directly or indirectly serve this noble goal,” emphasizing that he is clearly aware that what many regions of the world experience in terms of political, social, and sometimes security instability is mainly due to the weakening of factors of cohesion among the components of the same nation, and the predominance of the logic of discrimination and exclusion over that of dialogue and consultation.
In a related development, Mauritanian opposition deputy and leader of the anti-slavery movement “IRA,” Biram Dah Abeid, announced his candidacy for the presidential elections. Speaking at a conference held yesterday evening in Nouakchott, he expressed his aim to oust the current regime, which he described as “incompetent and corrupt.”
Biram’s announcement came during a popular festival organized at the Old Youth Center in the capital, Nouakchott, in the presence of a number of his supporters.
The leader of the “IRA” movement had previously run for the presidency in the 2014 and 2019 elections, where he came in second after receiving 18.58% of the vote.
Meanwhile, a leader of the “Tawassoul” party, Mohamed Ould Ghallam El Hajj Sheikh, announced his intention to vote for the candidate Mohamed Ould El Ghazaouani in the upcoming presidential elections.
Ghallam believed that the president’s announcement of running for a second term “deserves praise for his outstanding performance in the previous term, where he led our country through lean years, navigating turbulent waves of epidemics and regional and international crises.”
He added that El Ghazaouani “wisely brought together various political factions under one word, and achieved in multiple areas, especially in social issues and serving the vulnerable class, which is a well-documented reality.”
He concluded by saying: “Therefore, his Excellency deserves the support of the Mauritanians for what he has provided, and to support him in the upcoming elections so that he can complete his achievements. My vote is for him, God willing.”
In the same context, a leader of the ruling “Justice” party, Mohamed Ould Bouna, stated that the choice of cadres and dignitaries from the Atar region has been definitively settled in favor of a second term for President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazaouani.
During a meeting with prominent figures from the Rosso district, Ould Bouna said that “the president’s announcement of his candidacy for the presidential elections and his commendable response to the demands of the people and their enlightened elites marks a new chapter in the development process, and another indication of construction and reconstruction, which must be worked on to turn it into a reality of life.”
