by Compiled by ANB-BIA, Brussels, October 1997
THEME = DOSSIER
There are nearly two-and-a-half million people spread over an area of over a million square kilometres. Two-thirds of the country to the North is part of the great Sahara desert. The south-east along the border with Mali, is a Savannah region. The south-west, in an arc 400 km long and 25 km wide along the banks of the Senegal River, produces nearly all the agricultural produce of the country. The Moorish tribes with an Arab-Berber culture in the north are mostly nomads who depend on their livestock. The Negro African tribes in the south are predominantly tillers of the soil.
The Moors who represent two-thirds of the population, can be divided into White Moors (lighter-skinned) and Black Moors. The White Moors (or Bidans) are descendants of the Berbers from the North who already in the third century BC infiltrated Western Sahara. But it is particularly at the time of the Almoravids, that they established their empire in the eleventh century and Islamised the whole area. Their predominance still remains very influential in the state and the economy. The Black Moors (or Haratins) are descendants of the captives, former freed slaves. They are of more modest stock but cling to their Arab Berber culture.
The Negro African tribes of the south (Negro Mauritanians) share in sub-Saharan African culture. They are the Toucouleurs and the Soininke. There are also Wolof and Mambara minorities. After independence in 1960, the White Moors had political power, but there were many Negro Africans in the administration. Though all are Muslims, the people of the south do not want to be assimilated by the Arabs because of their Muslim allegiance. They are anxious to preserve their identity and their lifestyle.
When the Islamic Republic of Mauritania gained independence on 28 November 1960, Mokhtar Oud Daddah became the first Head of State.
The first political problem confronting the young state was its relations with Morocco. The latter refused to recognise the new Mauritanian state, by defending the theory of a "greater Morocco" according to which, pre-colonial Morocco extended as far as the Senegal River. However, Rabat finally recognised Mauritania in 1960, and diplomatic relations were established in 1970.
Another international problem concerned Western Sahara. In the beginning, even before independence, Mauritania claimed sovereignty over the whole of this Spanish colony. Still, when Spanish troops left in 1975, Mauritania signed a treaty with Morocco dividing the colony between them. Mauritania occupied the south but it was unable to cope with the Polisario guerrillas, and in 1970 gave up claims to Western Sahara and withdrew its troops.
This useless war in which the troops were unwilling and there were rivalries within the army, led to a series of coups d'état. On 10 July 1978, Colonel Mustapha Ould Salek ousted Ould Dadddah. He in turn was replaced a year later, by Lieutenant Colonel Ould Louly, who signed the peace treaty with the Polisario, but was himself squeezed out by Lt.Col.Haidallah. The latter had to endure two attempted coups until finally the present President, Maouya Ould Sid Ahmed Ould Taya seized power on 12 December 1994.
The first measures taken by Ould Taya were in the international field. He resumed relations with Morocco (interrupted in 1981) and with Libya. On the home front, he began, though with some reluctance, the slow process of democratization. Though after independence the singly-party system was introduced, Ould Taya took the first steps in 1985, by having local councils elected in the towns and later in the countryside. In 1991, a new constitution was accepted by referendum. It introduced a multi- party system but at the same time, extended the powers of the President who would be elected for six years, renewable. Fifteen parties were officially registered. Six candidates stood for the presidential election of January 1992. Ould Taya was elected with 63% of the votes.
After independence, President Ould Daddah had declared that he wished to make of his country a "meeting place of Arabs and Blacks". In fact, the history of the country shows that there were continual racial tensions in the country.
The first tension centred on the problem of language. The Negro-Mauritanians favoured the retention of French and the development of their own languages, while the Moors wanted the extension of Arabic. In 1966, it degenerated into racial disturbances when the blacks opposed the decision to make Arabic the national language. Since that time, the Negro-Mauritanian population has continued to resist attempts to arabize education and to impose domination of the Moors both in the administration, and in employment discrimination.
In the middle eighties, land in the Senegal valley belonging to the black population from time immemorial, was seized by the government and given to Moorish businessmen. Down the years, many black personalities have been arrested, officially, "for activities harmful to national unity"; their relatives say that it was more a question of "punitive measures against the blacks who did not want to be considered as second class citizens".
In 1989, a simple quarrel between Senegalese peasants and Mauritanian herdsmen, ended in massacres of the black population in Mauritania, and then of Moors in Senegal. The Mauritanian government used the occasion to deport thousands of blacks to Senegal. These massive expulsions on both sides, provoked a temporary break of relations between the two countries.
In the beginning of 1991, because of a (so-called) plot, hundreds of Negro-Mauritanian army officers were arrested and very many of them were executed.
Slavery was officially suppressed on two occasions, first by Mokhtar Ould Daddah, and then by Haidallah in 1980, but according to some sources, seeing the absence of a clear will and the general mentality, slavery continued to exist, though in a hidden way. Very many (former) slaves who could not provide for themselves, preferred to remain with their former masters who have a duty to feed and clothe them.
Traditionally, the Mauritanian economy was based on herding in the north and agriculture in the south. Mining began in 1959; the fishing industry in the eighties.
Mines. Mauritania has great potential for mining and also perhaps for oil. Its reserves of iron are estimated at about 200 million tons. The Kedia d'Idjil (Zouerate) mines are linked to the port of Nouadhibou by a 675 km railway line. This line was often the target of Polisario raids. Another mine was opened in 1984 and the opening of a third mine is foreseen. Mauritania exports about 10 million tons per year (11.5 in 1995).
Production could triple, but the crisis in the European steel industry, is in danger of diminishing the revenue from this source.
Production of copper began in 1967 at Akjoujt, but operational difficulties forced the mine to close in 1978. A new Arab company was formed to restart production when market conditions become more favourable.
Agriculture, herding and fishing. The majority of the people live off agriculture and herding. However, the greatest change over the last years was the industrialization of the fishing industry. The waters along the coast of Mauritania are reputed to be the richest fishing grounds in the world. Agreements have been entered into with Russia, Japan and the European Community to set up "joint ventures", while Mauritania is developing its own fishing fleet. At the moment, fish products account for the greater part (56%) of exports and foreign earnings. What is more, the recent pact signed in 1996 with the European Union, permitting European trawlers to fish its waters according to a quota, has earned Mauritania 266 million ECU spread over five years.
Agriculture, in which half the active population are engaged, has also made progress. A large irrigation scheme along the Senegal River for the production of grain, is currently being completed. The aim is to achieve self-sufficiency in food by the year 2000.
The pastoral sector has experienced the greatest set back. It suffered badly in the different periods of drought, the latest being in 1992-93. A large part of the herd perished, but several plans to replace flocks have been initiated. Again the numbers have risen to eleven million head.
But all that has produced a mass rural exodus. Nouakchott, which had a few thousand inhabitants in 1960, now has nearly 800,000. It has the highest urban growth in the world. Now 40% of these people live in shanty towns. Employment is as rare as housing; iron-ore mining and fishing do not create many jobs.
Many gifts and loans have made possible improvement to the infrastructure and equipment. Resurfacing and remaking of part of the road network, has been completed. And each of the 13 principal towns has received an electricity generator.
After a long period of recession, the GNP has risen to 4% annually from 1990 to 1995, and more than 4.5% in 1996. The population is increasing by only 2.6% and income per head, has increased slightly. But a third of the population is still living on less than a dollar a day.
Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. It joined the Arab League in 1973. Almost the whole population is Muslim, but most observers speak of a moderate Islam, with no fanaticism.
The few Christians in the country, nearly 5,000 of them, are all expatriates. There are about ten Catholic priests and about 32 religious sisters. In July 1995, Bishop Happe M.Afr succeeded Bishop de Chevigny as Bishop of Nouakchott.
After the presidential election of 1992, the two principal parties were The Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS) of President Ould Taya and The Union of Democratic Forces (UFD) which was renamed Union of democratic Forces-New Era (UFD-EN) after the elections. Its leader is Ahmed Ould Daddah, a half brother of the first president, who got 36% of the votes in the presidential election.
Most of the White Moors belong to the PRDS, as well as the greater part of the elite among Black Moors and the higher classes of the Negro-Mauritanian ethnic groups.
The government has placed these personalities in important jobs, to obtain the loyalty of their tribes or ethnic groups. The Opposition includes the White Moors of Trarza (the region where Mokhtar Ould Daddah was born) and the lower ranks of the Black Moors and the Negro-Mauritanians. They have rarely put forward common candidates for elections. Many of the Negro-Mauritanians, tired of the endless struggle and of the political games of their chiefs, have slowly rallied to the government.
In the local elections of January 1994, the PRDS won the majority in 172 districts out of 208. The UFD gained only 17 districts, the rest going to the Independents.
In the parliamentary elections of October 1996, the Opposition lost most of the support which it had in 1992. After the first round, when all its candidates were eliminated, the UFD-UE declared that there was wholesale fraud, boycotted the second round and received no seats. The PRDS won 70 of the 79 seats in the parliament.
As the presidential elections draw near, five opposition parties formed a united front for the first time. On 27 February 1997, they signed a common charter, demanding an independent electoral commission, neutrality of the government and independence of the judiciary, as well as the return of deported Negro-Mauritanians and an equitable distribution of wealth.
However, on 26 June, at the end of three days debate at El Mina, they called for a boycott of the electoral process, because none of the demands made of the government to guarantee a minimum of transparency had been met.
Presidential elections are scheduled for 12 and 26 December. In addition to President Maaouyia Sid'Ahmed Taya, who has announced that he will be standing for re-election, there are five other candidates.
The re-election of President Ould Taya is not in doubt.
NOTA - Main sources: New African Yearbook, 1997-98; Bruno Callies, in Le Monde Diplomatique, France, Feb 1997
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