African Union Lifts Sanctions on Mauritania Following President's Resignation

July 1, 2009 9:54 a.m. EST

The African Union has lifted sanctions on Mauritania after the country's overthrown presidential leader resigned earlier this week.

The sanctions were put in place when a junta staged a military coup on the Mauritanian president, and restricted visas and placed travel bans on supporters of the junta.

President Sidi Cheikh Ould Abdallahi's resignation finally allowed for an interim government to be established before the country holds presidential elections this July. Because Mauritania has been under the control of the junta that staged the coup in 2008, the African Union placed a number of sanctions on the country, citing the need to restore Abdallahi's presidency.

Abdallahi was Mauritania's first democratically elected leader, but was ousted in August 2008 after he announced he would fire several high-ranking military officials.

To many Mauritanians, the African Union's lifting of sanctions is a sigh of relief following Abdallahi's formal resignation.

"It's completely rational to say that the former president displayed political maturity and great patriotism when he decided to step down," Mauritanian student Brahim Yacoub El Moustapha told The Media Line. "That being said, one must also take into consideration all of the madness that caused serious sanctions like the economic blockades and total containment of Mauritania."

"Personally, I think that it was known in advance that Sidi would resign but it was just a matter of time."

However, in light of the upcoming election, there is fear that another coup d'état of whoever comes into power after July might lead to the reinstatement of the crippling sanctions.

"Mauritania has known several coups throughout its history, but unfortunately none of them has been in its favor; on each occasion a militant arrives in power he deceives the majority of impoverished citizens with false promises," Mauritanian citizen Sidaty Jedou told The Media Line. "The same thing repeated these last times with the coup, which was orchestrated by a mafia of corrupted militants."

While Jedou is wary of the possibility of another coup, he does not consider it inevitable.

"I believe that the coups d'états will no longer normally take place in the condition that the upcoming elections are transparent and are without falsifications," he said. Analysts say that the high frequency of coups in Mauritania represents a greater problem, of which the African Union sanctions are merely a symptom.

"The fact that coups happen and are accepted shows that the political system does not work the way it is supposed to work," Dr. Joseph Hill, professor at The American University in Cairo and expert on Mauritania, explained to The Media Line. "Ineffective presidents are not dealt with constitutionally because the military is far stronger than the civilian government, so the president either rules through the military as long as possible or is overpowered by it."

"The ballot box is essentially useless until the idea of the "secret ballot" applies to communities and not just individuals," he said.

"The government is relatively weak anyway and has relatively little impact on many people's lives. Rural development often depends more on NGOs and benefactors than on government."

The coup was carried out by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who was among the military officials Abdallahi had planned to fire in 2008. After Abdallahi was ousted, Aziz assumed control as Head of State. He has since stepped down in order to assert himself as a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections.