MP Biram Dah Abeid described Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Djay's resignation as a historic opportunity for President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani to bring about genuine political change, address economic and social crises and begin a process of national reconciliation among Mauritanians.
In a statement received by Madar, Ould Abeid said successive crises had exposed shortcomings in the management of public affairs. He accused the authorities of entrenching favouritism, a lack of transparency and the mismanagement of public resources. He argued that replacing the prime minister alone would be insufficient without changes to the way the country was governed and action to address existing shortcomings.
He said citizens faced rising prices and taxes, unemployment, poverty and difficulties obtaining fuel, alongside what he described as the politicisation of public administration, expanding patronage networks and restrictions on expression and political and civic activity.
Ould Abeid urged the president to form a technocratic government whose members were competent, had integrity and were independent of vested-interest networks, following broad consultations with political actors. He said it should implement an emergency plan to protect purchasing power, support vulnerable groups, combat poverty, unemployment and corruption, and reform public finances and institutions.
He also called for measures to ease political tensions, including the release of all those he described as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Among them, he named former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, retired general Lebatt Ould Maayouf and a number of IRA movement leaders. He called for an inclusive national dialogue without exclusions or red lines, aimed at resolving the current crises and laying the foundations for a new national pact.
Ould Abeid said national reconciliation should be a priority and stressed the need for an impartial state that guaranteed equality among citizens, free from discrimination and exclusion based on social or political affiliations.
He argued that the current situation gave the president an opportunity to turn the political crisis into a new beginning. He urged the different parties to move beyond their disagreements and join a reform process intended to restore trust, achieve justice and strengthen Mauritanian unity.
