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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SNAR MR
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION DENOUNCES CORRUPT ELECTORAL SYSTEM 
 
REF: NOUAKCHOTT 727 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARK M. BOULWARE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  For opposition leaders Ahmed Ould Daddah 
and Mohamed Ould Maouloud, the outcome of the November 8 
senatorial elections is the living proof that Mohamed Ould 
Abdel Aziz intends to squash all dissenting voices through 
widespread electoral fraud and intimidation.  According to 
them, Mauritania is headed towards a Taya-like monolithical 
state party system; however, they both agree that Taya was 
more generous in allowing some space for the opposition to 
express itself.  For both Maouloud and Daddah, widespread 
fraud in Mauritania's electoral system poses a dangerous 
threat for democracy and democratic alternance.  They called 
on the U.S. to use its influence to promote dialogue in the 
spirit of the Dakar Accords which it endorsed.  End summary. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
MAOULOUD: AZIZ IS DESTROYING THE OPPOSITION 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  On November 10, PolOff met with Union des Forces du 
Progres (UFP) President and influential opposition leader 
Mohamed Ould Maouloud to inquire about the causes behind the 
opposition's defeat.  Maouloud said the opposition accepted 
to participate in these elections as a signal to the majority 
that they are willing to take part in the political process. 
They also viewed the senatorial elections as a test to guage 
the government's interest in engaging in dialogue and giving 
the opposition some space for participation. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The "testing the waters" strategy consisted in 
presenting joint FNDD/RFD lists for only those places where 
the opposition had a majority of municipal counselors and was 
sure to win:  Nouakchott, Boutilimit, Barkeoles and Aleg. 
They did not field lists in any other electoral regions 
because they feared they would not have a fair chance in the 
electoral race and could not afford to waste resources and 
energy.  In Nouakchott, for example, Maouloud said the 
FNDD/RFD felt confident they could win at least one seat 
thanks to the proportional system.  Note:  Taya instituted a 
proportional system in Nouakchott where there are three 
senatorial seats and 63 municipal council members.  The 
purpose of this system was to ensure the opposition had at 
least one seat in Nouakchott.  According to this system, as 
explained by Maouloud, a list gets a seat for every 21 
council member votes.  For example, if the majority gets 52 
votes, and the minority 11, the majority gets two full seats 
(21 21=42).  The third seat is then given to whoever has the 
majority of the votes, which would be the minority's 11 votes 
against the majority's 10 remaining votes (52-42=10).  End 
note.  With 17 APP, UFP and RFD council members, the 
opposition thought they had a good chance at winning the 
traditional third seat.  Nevertheless, some of its council 
members were allegedly "bought off" by the majority and voted 
against their own parties. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Aziz, according to Maouloud, is seeking to reproduce 
Taya's monolithical state party system, which regroups the 
"strong man's" clientele in a single party and allows small, 
weak parties to exist to keep a semblance of democracy.  The 
only difference between Taya and Aziz, said Maouloud, is that 
Taya made an effort to let the opposition have a minimum of 
voices whereas Aziz wants to entirely squash the opposition. 
"Even one single seat for the opposition is considered too 
much of a concession," said Maouloud.  Considerable financial 
means and pressure were deployed by the majority to ensure 
the opposition was thoroughly defeated.  Maouloud stressed 
that Aziz is managing the political system now in the same 
way he did before the coup d'etat -- excluding the opposition 
and curtailing its access to state-run media.  The country is 
rapidly moving towards a dictatorship, stated Maouloud.  The 
fight against corruption is a measure to remove those who no 
longer advance Aziz's agenda in order to replace them with 
new, more powerful "clients."  It also serves as a 
retribution method for opposition members. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Aziz has established widespread corruption in the 
electoral system with the help of rich and powerful Ouled 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000728  002 OF 003 
 
 
Bisbaa tribesmen like Ould Ghadde, who has the monopoly of 
basic food imports, as well as Bouamatou.  The Ouled Bisbaa 
business interests have the financial means to buy votes to 
ensure their permanence in power.  Maouloud said that the 
Ouled Bisbaa are creating a monopoly by eliminating competing 
businesses.  He claims, for example, that the Somagaz 
director was recently removed from his position because he 
refused to take measures that would bankrupt Somagaz, a 
parastatal, for the benefit of Bouamatou's new private gas 
company. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Maouloud told PolOff that widespread corruption in 
the electoral system or what he calls "the mafioso electoral 
system" poses a danger to Mauritanian national security as 
drug cartels seeking to establish themselves in Mauritania 
can now buy votes to ensure politicians involved in 
drug-trafficking get elected.  He asked the U.S. to open its 
eyes to the new reality of drugs and politics in Mauritania 
and the possibility of Mauritania becoming a narco-state down 
the line.  According to Maouloud, there are already many 
government officials involved in trafficking networks. 
PolOff responded that the government had deployed efforts to 
apprehend cartel leaders such as Erick Walter M'Benga, who 
was extradited to Mauritania from Senegal.  Maouloud 
challenged PolOff to research how many traffickers had been 
released or escaped from prison versus those tried and 
sentenced.  He said he was highly skeptical M'Benga would be 
judged.  "It is likely he will escape, or get killed, or be 
released; but he will never be judged," he stressed.  "Drug 
trafficking cases brought to Mauritania come here to die." 
 
¶7.  (C)  Maouloud pointed out that the Mercure hotel, 
property of SNIM, was recently sold to a Colombian who has 
hotels in Senegal and Guinea Bissau.  Maouloud said this 
information is alarming as it points to the implantation of 
regional drug-traffickers in Mauritania.  In Maouloud's view, 
Latin American business interests in Mauritania can only be 
motivated by drug-trafficking.  Comment:  The sale of the 
Mercure hotel to a Colombian businessman was published in the 
press and many contacts have brought PolOff's attention to 
the opaque nature of the sale and the true motivations behind 
it.  According to Embassy contact and opposition leader Abdel 
Koudouss Abeidna, the buyer is a long-time associate of 
M'Benga.  PolOff has been unable to confirm this information. 
 End comment. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Maouloud finished by calling on the U.S., as 
guarantor of the Dakar Agreement, to hold Aziz's government 
accountable for maintaining a healthy political dialogue in 
the interest of long-term stability.  "Aziz has not lived up 
to his Dakar engagements," he said.  His plans to 
disenfranchise the opposition and to manipulate the electoral 
system are the ultimate proof that he is not acting in good 
faith.  "All we want is to ensure that there is a state of 
law and that democratic alternance is guaranteed," said 
Maouloud. 
 
--------------- 
WORSE THAN TAYA 
--------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  On November 11, PolOff met with Rassemblement des 
Forces Democratiques (RFD) President Ahmed Ould Daddah, who 
stated that the senatorial elections had limited importance 
for his party as, with only six senators out of 56, the RFD 
was already under-represented in the senate.  Note: The RFD 
lost one senator in this election and now only has five.  End 
note.  Daddah said these elections allowed him to understand 
that the regime is becoming increasingly totalitarian and 
intolerant of the opposition as it is seeking through 
electoral fraud to strip the opposition of its already 
limited voices.  "Aziz does not want any voice to express 
itself other than his," intimated Daddah.  "How can six 
senators compete with his 56?" 
 
¶10.  (C)  Daddah said that electoral fraud in Mauritania has 
become increasingly widespread, systematic and sophisticated. 
 He stated that in Boutilimit, his hometown, advisors who had 
been bribed to vote for Union Pour la Republique (UPR) 
candidates were provided with a code and asked to vote by 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000728  003 OF 003 
 
 
writing that code on their ballot as proof that they had 
honored their engagement.  Note:  In Mauritania, any sign 
inside the voting square on the ballot is accepted.  End 
note.  The extent of electoral fraud, he said, has pushed his 
party to reconsider whether participation is better than 
boycott.  According to Daddah, the situation now is worse 
than in 1992 under Taya as Taya allowed a space for the 
opposition whereas that space is getting increasingly smaller 
under Aziz.  At the time, the RFD obtained 33 percent in the 
elections. 
 
¶11.  (C)  Daddah agrees with Maouloud that the country is 
moving towards a state party system.  When asked about his 
role as leader of the democratic opposition, a dejected 
Daddah responded he was thinking about stepping down.  He 
declared himself disappointed at Assembly President (and 
former opposition party presidential candidate) Messaoud Ould 
Boulkheir's opening speech, which he thought was too 
positive.  Comment:  In his controversial speech at the 
opening of the Assembly's ordinary session, Boulkheir 
recognized Aziz's win and called for dialogue between the 
majority and the opposition.  He also endorsed Aziz's fight 
against corruption.  End comment.  Daddah stated the RFD's 
position is less conciliatory as it refuses to recognize the 
results of the election and the legitimacy of the government. 
 Nevertheless, in a seemingly contradictory position, Daddah 
said he would continue working with the FNDD as he thought 
the opposition needed to remain united. 
 
¶12.  (C)  According to Daddah, the U.S.'s and Europe's 
approach to counter-terrorism is mistaken.  He stated the 
Europeans and Americans had put the military in power because 
they thought it would help security.  He declared "he does 
not feel that U.S. policy in Mauritania lives up to President 
Obama's democratic aspirations."  Comment:  Daddah, like many 
opposition leaders, holds a grudge agains the U.S. for 
recognizing Aziz's win.  Nevertheless, in his statements, he 
seems to forget that he plotted with Aziz to block democratic 
institutions in Mauritania and precipitate the coup d'etat 
against Abdallahi and that it took him months to place 
himself on the side of those who unequivocally rejected the 
coup.  End comment. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13.  (C)  The blame game between the opposition and the 
majority continues.  The majority is set on proving that the 
opposition is a small group of unreasonable individuals who 
intend to obstruct the political process.  For the 
opposition, the majority is only interested in dialogue aimed 
at bringing dissenting voices under the fold.  They think 
that Aziz's motto is "those who are not with me, are against 
me and will be eliminated."  Boulkheir's decision to accept 
Aziz' win and engage in dialogue is a powerful gesture.  The 
ball is now on the majority's court.  End comment. 
BOULWARE