Mauritanians sceptical about new government programme

10/06/2007

Prime Minister Zein Ould Zeidane presented the new Mauritanian government’s programme, in which he vowed to fight poverty and tackle economic problems.

By Mohamed Yahya Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 10/06/2007

[Getty Images] The prime minister vowed to eradicate poverty and prepare a corrective financial law

On May 31st, Mauritanian Prime Minister Zein Ould Zeidane presented his government’s programme in a lengthy speech to parliament.

The first item on his agenda was the issue of Mauritanian refugees in Mali and Senegal. According to Zeidane, the government is consulting with political parties, civil society organisations, United Nations agencies and other development partners to resolve the status of "migrant Mauritanian citizens [remaining] outside the borders following the painful events of 1989, when, following a disagreement with Senegal over control of their shared border, over 50,000 black Mauritanians were expelled to live in camps."

The second point the government addressed is poverty, which weighs heavily on Mauritanian society, though it did not announce concrete projects to help citizens to find work – a point criticized by some representatives. Zeidane assured Mauritanians that "poverty reduction and enabling citizens to obtain the necessities of a dignified life is the highest priority of the government’s economic policy. To this end, the government will conduct a new family survey… and review the strategic framework for fighting poverty, in order to speed progress towards achievement of Millennium Development Goals."

The prime minister also pledged to eliminate the phenomenon of kazra, or illegal shanty towns occupied by thousands of poor people fleeing drought or poverty. This problem, which has endured for four decades or more, affects many citizens and according to the prime minister is considered one of Mauritania's most important social, political, and even cultural issues. Zeidane also vowed to forbid slavery, enact penalties for the practice and to support those victimised by it in the past.

On the issue of treasury savings, the Prime Minister said, "In the next few days, the government will present the Parliament with a corrective financial law, along with a complete report on the economic and monetary situation after the transfer of power. The law will take into account the negative consequences of the decline in oil production from 75,000 barrels/day to 17,000 barrels/day, which will affect estimated state revenues by over 16.7%."

People both inside and outside parliament had mixed reactions to the programme, though the majority welcomed the prime minister's open approach to discussing the programme. Representative Mohamed Mustafa Ould Badreddine accused the government of not addressing "crises of water, electricity and drugs, which have worsened in recent weeks," as well as "vicious attacks on press freedom, such as the legal harassment of some journalists covering the issue of drugs in Nouadhibou." Several journalists were detained by the authorities after they linked Mauritanian politicians and businessmen to an international narcotics trafficking network busted in Nouadhibou in early May.

Another parliamentary bloc held the government responsible for a recent spate of prolonged power and demanded they come to an end. The prime minister felt the problem firsthand when electricity in the parliament building was interrupted during the first session, forcing the deputies and the cabinet to wait at least half an hour in the dark.

Outside the parliament building, dozens of unemployed doctorate holders demanded the new government’s assistance in providing jobs. One demonstrator, Sayyed Ahmad, told Magharebia, "We just listened to the Prime Minister’s speech on the radio. We hope that he will find a way to put each paragraph of the government’s reform programme into practice, and that they will not just be ink on paper. We’ve had enough deceitful promises."

Some citizens protested the absence of specific dates and figures in the speech. "The Prime Minister was supposed to give greater detail on the government’s budget. The speech was optimistic, but did not really reflect the prime minister’s economic background," Hassan Ould Ajdoud, a law student at the University of Nouakchott told Magharebia.