With yet another coup d'état staged in August 2008 to preserve the gains of the one carried out in August 2005, Mauritania is building its democracy coup by coup.

By Mohamed B Fall, Nouakchott

As of August 6, 2008, President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi ceased to be the leader of Mauritania's government. General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, until now the chief of staff of the presidential guard, deposed him before the decree finalising his removal from his post as well as that of the heads of the Guard and the Police force was carried out.

Observers will note that this very team had removed Maouya Ould Sidi Ahmed Taya from power, shortening the mandate of "Sidioca" as the ex-president of Mauritania is also called. The modus operandi was the same - no bloodshed. They created a committee. The only difference is the goal. While the concern of the first coup was ensuring a secure transition to democracy, the second strives to protect democracy. In his initial statements, the new leader refused to refer to the event as a coup. Instead, he considers it to be the "re-establishment of security and the fight against terrorism."

A Powerless President

And so it came to pass that Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mauritania's first democratically elected president, remained in power for only a year and a half. This seems to have been enough time to lose the support of his generals, which in turn led to a loss of parliamentary support.

Democratically elected but forced to work with a mosaic of political affiliations and individuals with contrasting personalities, the former president quickly fell prisoner to the system. With a prime minister and a parliament head of different political points of view chosen as a part of an electoral deal between the two wings of Mauritanian political life - a state party (Adil) without any identity made with the support of the head of state comprising Islamic fundamentalists, liberals and left-wing extremists - he had to constantly fight to maintain a delicate glimmer of consensus under military rule.

The tacit pact between members of this conflicted government was first questioned in May after the removal of the former Prime Minister, Zeine Ould Ziedane, from office. This was a decision made without the blessing of the military - an action that would further isolate the president.

Avoiding the return of the former regime

The nomination of a new prime minister deemed to be too close to the politics of the past would deepen the chasm between the generals and the president. The first prime minister, Ould Waghaf, appointed top officials of the previous regime to key government posts and ushered in two parties opposed to the government. This open-door policy did not please some. From that point on, a group of parliamentarians began to take steps to secure a motion of no confidence. The irony is that, among those who participated in this first in Mauritanian political life, were members of Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi's Adil party aligned with members of the RFD or main democratic party. To avoid this, the government resigned in mid-July. The prime minister then formed a new cabinet, carefully avoiding symbols of the previous regime. But apparently this simply was not enough and did even less to prevent the Senate from enquiring into the First Lady's management of her foundation. Rumours of tension between the government and the army reached the streets. The president put all his chips on the table and, following the counsel of his advisors, decided to make a risky dash to issue a decree for the removal of the generals accused of being the source of the crisis in parliament. This very decision would cost him his seat in government.

It was at the height of this wrestling match that the August 5, 2008 coup occurred - exactly three years after the fall of Taya. The army's return to power marks a cruel reminder to Mauritania's three million inhabitants that its old habits of intermittent military rule live on.