The following article from allafrica.com is a good one.This is a lesson for both the coupists and the deposed.Its timely! The AU is not only thinking about those who overthrow as the burden.Those being overthrown are infact in most cases the real cause.
As Bob Marley sang some decades ago.."Chances are!"
What chances do we have ahead...Alpha Oumar Konare has a big lump to fry,grill,prepare and then serve. Its much more wiser for him and those in the kitchen of the mighty AU to avoid being mild lambs of simple idealism.The deposed and the coupists is Africa free from both "negligence"?
Read on....
The Mauritanian Coup
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This Day (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
August 7, 2005
Posted to the web August 8, 2005
Lagos
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has been a by-word for coups and counter-coups since it became independent in 1960. The overthrow of President Ould Taya on Wednesday last week would not have raised eye-brows, but for the fact that military coups have become loathsome to the globalised village. So the volume and vehemence of world-wide denunciation of the Mauritanian putschists was hardly surprising.
Still, it doesn't appear that the coup-makers are about to budge. Instead, they have proceeded to dig in, promising, as usual, to bring democracy to the troubled West African country in a brief period of two years. In the meantime, President Taya who was overthrown in a bloodless palace coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has holed up in the Republic of Niger. He is apparently at a loss on what to do next.
If Taya is confused, the rest of the world shouldn't be. There is no doubt at all that the Mauritanian coup, like that of Sao Tome and Principe, must not be allowed to stand. Time and again, military dictatorship has proved conclusively that no matter the reasons for its emergence, it is not a better alternative to civil rule, not the least, a democratic one. Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia have learnt that bitter lesson at great cost. Highlighting the ills of the ancien regime and promising a quick restoration of democracy is usually the handy ruse of the coup-maker to confer nobility on his political adventurism. No sooner he consolidates his hold on power than he bares his rapacious fangs and proceeds to poison the society he ostensibly came to save. Africa is dog-tired of this repetitive evil and it must spearhead a global coalition to transform the effusive condemnations into concrete measures to kick out the military scoundrels, masquerading as saviours, from the
presidential palace in Nouakchott.
All said, however, we believe that it will serve some useful purpose to go beyond merely preventing the Mauritanian pretenders from holding onto power. We need to examine the stated reasons for the coup for what they may be worth. Here, we would readily concede that leaders like Taya represent the ugly face of democracy in Africa. A former chief of army staff, Taya upstaged another military dictatorship to come to power in 1984. He approved a constitution in 1991, purportedly anchored on political pluralism, providing for a multiparty system.
Under this constitution, Taya organised and predictably won the presidential election in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997 amid allegations of massive rigging. After surviving a coup attempt in June 2003, he was again elected for a third term in November that year, with even more glaring electoral fraud that awarded him 66.7 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Heydalla, who rejected the results was promptly charged for coup-plotting, tried and sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term and banned from contesting elections.
Besides electoral manipulation, Taya has proved particularly inept at economic and political management. Economically, he ran the country's once thriving agricultural and mining sector aground. Today, Mauritania is faced with serious problems of famine.
On the political front, Taya has equally proved that he is incapable of holding the country together. His policy of virtual extermination of the tiny minority tribe of Black Sonninkes has forced many of them to flee Mauritania, an action that infuriated the United States into suspending aid to the country in 1993.
Relevant LinksWest Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Nigeria
Mauritania
Against Taya's miserable rule in the past two decades, there is something to say for the claims by the coup-makers that they have come to "put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years."
Unfortunately, the military cannot pretend to be in position to undertake this task of national redemption. But what the coup has demonstrated clearly is the urgent need for the African Union to begin to give practical expression to democracy on the continent. Africa's peer review mechanism, for instance, must be bolstered to begin to address the issue of dictators, especially of the military brand, who conduct and win sham elections and thereafter proceed to preside over inept and autocratic governments, all in the name of democracy. Putting an end to this sort of democratic charade is the surest way to stopping a resurgence of coups on the continent.
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var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);document.write("");
The Mauritanian Coup
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
This Day (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
August 7, 2005
Posted to the web August 8, 2005
Lagos
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has been a by-word for coups and counter-coups since it became independent in 1960. The overthrow of President Ould Taya on Wednesday last week would not have raised eye-brows, but for the fact that military coups have become loathsome to the globalised village. So the volume and vehemence of world-wide denunciation of the Mauritanian putschists was hardly surprising.
Still, it doesn't appear that the coup-makers are about to budge. Instead, they have proceeded to dig in, promising, as usual, to bring democracy to the troubled West African country in a brief period of two years. In the meantime, President Taya who was overthrown in a bloodless palace coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has holed up in the Republic of Niger. He is apparently at a loss on what to do next.
If Taya is confused, the rest of the world shouldn't be. There is no doubt at all that the Mauritanian coup, like that of Sao Tome and Principe, must not be allowed to stand. Time and again, military dictatorship has proved conclusively that no matter the reasons for its emergence, it is not a better alternative to civil rule, not the least, a democratic one. Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia have learnt that bitter lesson at great cost. Highlighting the ills of the ancien regime and promising a quick restoration of democracy is usually the handy ruse of the coup-maker to confer nobility on his political adventurism. No sooner he consolidates his hold on power than he bares his rapacious fangs and proceeds to poison the society he ostensibly came to save. Africa is dog-tired of this repetitive evil and it must spearhead a global coalition to transform the effusive condemnations into concrete measures to kick out the military scoundrels, masquerading as saviours, from the
presidential palace in Nouakchott.
All said, however, we believe that it will serve some useful purpose to go beyond merely preventing the Mauritanian pretenders from holding onto power. We need to examine the stated reasons for the coup for what they may be worth. Here, we would readily concede that leaders like Taya represent the ugly face of democracy in Africa. A former chief of army staff, Taya upstaged another military dictatorship to come to power in 1984. He approved a constitution in 1991, purportedly anchored on political pluralism, providing for a multiparty system.
Under this constitution, Taya organised and predictably won the presidential election in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997 amid allegations of massive rigging. After surviving a coup attempt in June 2003, he was again elected for a third term in November that year, with even more glaring electoral fraud that awarded him 66.7 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Heydalla, who rejected the results was promptly charged for coup-plotting, tried and sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term and banned from contesting elections.
Besides electoral manipulation, Taya has proved particularly inept at economic and political management. Economically, he ran the country's once thriving agricultural and mining sector aground. Today, Mauritania is faced with serious problems of famine.
On the political front, Taya has equally proved that he is incapable of holding the country together. His policy of virtual extermination of the tiny minority tribe of Black Sonninkes has forced many of them to flee Mauritania, an action that infuriated the United States into suspending aid to the country in 1993.
Relevant LinksWest Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Nigeria
Mauritania
Against Taya's miserable rule in the past two decades, there is something to say for the claims by the coup-makers that they have come to "put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years."
Unfortunately, the military cannot pretend to be in position to undertake this task of national redemption. But what the coup has demonstrated clearly is the urgent need for the African Union to begin to give practical expression to democracy on the continent. Africa's peer review mechanism, for instance, must be bolstered to begin to address the issue of dictators, especially of the military brand, who conduct and win sham elections and thereafter proceed to preside over inept and autocratic governments, all in the name of democracy. Putting an end to this sort of democratic charade is the surest way to stopping a resurgence of coups on the continent.
---------------------------------
Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed
---------------------------------
Top | Site Français | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe
---------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.
---------------------------------
Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);document.write("");
The Mauritanian Coup
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
This Day (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
August 7, 2005
Posted to the web August 8, 2005
Lagos
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has been a by-word for coups and counter-coups since it became independent in 1960. The overthrow of President Ould Taya on Wednesday last week would not have raised eye-brows, but for the fact that military coups have become loathsome to the globalised village. So the volume and vehemence of world-wide denunciation of the Mauritanian putschists was hardly surprising.
Still, it doesn't appear that the coup-makers are about to budge. Instead, they have proceeded to dig in, promising, as usual, to bring democracy to the troubled West African country in a brief period of two years. In the meantime, President Taya who was overthrown in a bloodless palace coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has holed up in the Republic of Niger. He is apparently at a loss on what to do next.
If Taya is confused, the rest of the world shouldn't be. There is no doubt at all that the Mauritanian coup, like that of Sao Tome and Principe, must not be allowed to stand. Time and again, military dictatorship has proved conclusively that no matter the reasons for its emergence, it is not a better alternative to civil rule, not the least, a democratic one. Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia have learnt that bitter lesson at great cost. Highlighting the ills of the ancien regime and promising a quick restoration of democracy is usually the handy ruse of the coup-maker to confer nobility on his political adventurism. No sooner he consolidates his hold on power than he bares his rapacious fangs and proceeds to poison the society he ostensibly came to save. Africa is dog-tired of this repetitive evil and it must spearhead a global coalition to transform the effusive condemnations into concrete measures to kick out the military scoundrels, masquerading as saviours, from the
presidential palace in Nouakchott.
All said, however, we believe that it will serve some useful purpose to go beyond merely preventing the Mauritanian pretenders from holding onto power. We need to examine the stated reasons for the coup for what they may be worth. Here, we would readily concede that leaders like Taya represent the ugly face of democracy in Africa. A former chief of army staff, Taya upstaged another military dictatorship to come to power in 1984. He approved a constitution in 1991, purportedly anchored on political pluralism, providing for a multiparty system.
Under this constitution, Taya organised and predictably won the presidential election in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997 amid allegations of massive rigging. After surviving a coup attempt in June 2003, he was again elected for a third term in November that year, with even more glaring electoral fraud that awarded him 66.7 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Heydalla, who rejected the results was promptly charged for coup-plotting, tried and sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term and banned from contesting elections.
Besides electoral manipulation, Taya has proved particularly inept at economic and political management. Economically, he ran the country's once thriving agricultural and mining sector aground. Today, Mauritania is faced with serious problems of famine.
On the political front, Taya has equally proved that he is incapable of holding the country together. His policy of virtual extermination of the tiny minority tribe of Black Sonninkes has forced many of them to flee Mauritania, an action that infuriated the United States into suspending aid to the country in 1993.
Relevant LinksWest Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Nigeria
Mauritania
Against Taya's miserable rule in the past two decades, there is something to say for the claims by the coup-makers that they have come to "put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years."
Unfortunately, the military cannot pretend to be in position to undertake this task of national redemption. But what the coup has demonstrated clearly is the urgent need for the African Union to begin to give practical expression to democracy on the continent. Africa's peer review mechanism, for instance, must be bolstered to begin to address the issue of dictators, especially of the military brand, who conduct and win sham elections and thereafter proceed to preside over inept and autocratic governments, all in the name of democracy. Putting an end to this sort of democratic charade is the surest way to stopping a resurgence of coups on the continent.
---------------------------------
Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed
---------------------------------
Top | Site Français | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe
---------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.
---------------------------------
Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);document.write("");
The Mauritanian Coup
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
This Day (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
August 7, 2005
Posted to the web August 8, 2005
Lagos
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has been a by-word for coups and counter-coups since it became independent in 1960. The overthrow of President Ould Taya on Wednesday last week would not have raised eye-brows, but for the fact that military coups have become loathsome to the globalised village. So the volume and vehemence of world-wide denunciation of the Mauritanian putschists was hardly surprising.
Still, it doesn't appear that the coup-makers are about to budge. Instead, they have proceeded to dig in, promising, as usual, to bring democracy to the troubled West African country in a brief period of two years. In the meantime, President Taya who was overthrown in a bloodless palace coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has holed up in the Republic of Niger. He is apparently at a loss on what to do next.
If Taya is confused, the rest of the world shouldn't be. There is no doubt at all that the Mauritanian coup, like that of Sao Tome and Principe, must not be allowed to stand. Time and again, military dictatorship has proved conclusively that no matter the reasons for its emergence, it is not a better alternative to civil rule, not the least, a democratic one. Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia have learnt that bitter lesson at great cost. Highlighting the ills of the ancien regime and promising a quick restoration of democracy is usually the handy ruse of the coup-maker to confer nobility on his political adventurism. No sooner he consolidates his hold on power than he bares his rapacious fangs and proceeds to poison the society he ostensibly came to save. Africa is dog-tired of this repetitive evil and it must spearhead a global coalition to transform the effusive condemnations into concrete measures to kick out the military scoundrels, masquerading as saviours, from the
presidential palace in Nouakchott.
All said, however, we believe that it will serve some useful purpose to go beyond merely preventing the Mauritanian pretenders from holding onto power. We need to examine the stated reasons for the coup for what they may be worth. Here, we would readily concede that leaders like Taya represent the ugly face of democracy in Africa. A former chief of army staff, Taya upstaged another military dictatorship to come to power in 1984. He approved a constitution in 1991, purportedly anchored on political pluralism, providing for a multiparty system.
Under this constitution, Taya organised and predictably won the presidential election in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997 amid allegations of massive rigging. After surviving a coup attempt in June 2003, he was again elected for a third term in November that year, with even more glaring electoral fraud that awarded him 66.7 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Heydalla, who rejected the results was promptly charged for coup-plotting, tried and sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term and banned from contesting elections.
Besides electoral manipulation, Taya has proved particularly inept at economic and political management. Economically, he ran the country's once thriving agricultural and mining sector aground. Today, Mauritania is faced with serious problems of famine.
On the political front, Taya has equally proved that he is incapable of holding the country together. His policy of virtual extermination of the tiny minority tribe of Black Sonninkes has forced many of them to flee Mauritania, an action that infuriated the United States into suspending aid to the country in 1993.
Relevant LinksWest Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Nigeria
Mauritania
Against Taya's miserable rule in the past two decades, there is something to say for the claims by the coup-makers that they have come to "put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years."
Unfortunately, the military cannot pretend to be in position to undertake this task of national redemption. But what the coup has demonstrated clearly is the urgent need for the African Union to begin to give practical expression to democracy on the continent. Africa's peer review mechanism, for instance, must be bolstered to begin to address the issue of dictators, especially of the military brand, who conduct and win sham elections and thereafter proceed to preside over inept and autocratic governments, all in the name of democracy. Putting an end to this sort of democratic charade is the surest way to stopping a resurgence of coups on the continent.
---------------------------------
Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed
---------------------------------
Top | Site Français | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe
---------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.
---------------------------------
Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);document.write("");
The Mauritanian Coup
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
This Day (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
August 7, 2005
Posted to the web August 8, 2005
Lagos
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania has been a by-word for coups and counter-coups since it became independent in 1960. The overthrow of President Ould Taya on Wednesday last week would not have raised eye-brows, but for the fact that military coups have become loathsome to the globalised village. So the volume and vehemence of world-wide denunciation of the Mauritanian putschists was hardly surprising.
Still, it doesn't appear that the coup-makers are about to budge. Instead, they have proceeded to dig in, promising, as usual, to bring democracy to the troubled West African country in a brief period of two years. In the meantime, President Taya who was overthrown in a bloodless palace coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has holed up in the Republic of Niger. He is apparently at a loss on what to do next.
If Taya is confused, the rest of the world shouldn't be. There is no doubt at all that the Mauritanian coup, like that of Sao Tome and Principe, must not be allowed to stand. Time and again, military dictatorship has proved conclusively that no matter the reasons for its emergence, it is not a better alternative to civil rule, not the least, a democratic one. Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia have learnt that bitter lesson at great cost. Highlighting the ills of the ancien regime and promising a quick restoration of democracy is usually the handy ruse of the coup-maker to confer nobility on his political adventurism. No sooner he consolidates his hold on power than he bares his rapacious fangs and proceeds to poison the society he ostensibly came to save. Africa is dog-tired of this repetitive evil and it must spearhead a global coalition to transform the effusive condemnations into concrete measures to kick out the military scoundrels, masquerading as saviours, from the
presidential palace in Nouakchott.
All said, however, we believe that it will serve some useful purpose to go beyond merely preventing the Mauritanian pretenders from holding onto power. We need to examine the stated reasons for the coup for what they may be worth. Here, we would readily concede that leaders like Taya represent the ugly face of democracy in Africa. A former chief of army staff, Taya upstaged another military dictatorship to come to power in 1984. He approved a constitution in 1991, purportedly anchored on political pluralism, providing for a multiparty system.
Under this constitution, Taya organised and predictably won the presidential election in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997 amid allegations of massive rigging. After surviving a coup attempt in June 2003, he was again elected for a third term in November that year, with even more glaring electoral fraud that awarded him 66.7 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Heydalla, who rejected the results was promptly charged for coup-plotting, tried and sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term and banned from contesting elections.
Besides electoral manipulation, Taya has proved particularly inept at economic and political management. Economically, he ran the country's once thriving agricultural and mining sector aground. Today, Mauritania is faced with serious problems of famine.
On the political front, Taya has equally proved that he is incapable of holding the country together. His policy of virtual extermination of the tiny minority tribe of Black Sonninkes has forced many of them to flee Mauritania, an action that infuriated the United States into suspending aid to the country in 1993.
Relevant LinksWest Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Nigeria
Mauritania
Against Taya's miserable rule in the past two decades, there is something to say for the claims by the coup-makers that they have come to "put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years."
Unfortunately, the military cannot pretend to be in position to undertake this task of national redemption. But what the coup has demonstrated clearly is the urgent need for the African Union to begin to give practical expression to democracy on the continent. Africa's peer review mechanism, for instance, must be bolstered to begin to address the issue of dictators, especially of the military brand, who conduct and win sham elections and thereafter proceed to preside over inept and autocratic governments, all in the name of democracy. Putting an end to this sort of democratic charade is the surest way to stopping a resurgence of coups on the continent.
---------------------------------
Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed
---------------------------------
Top | Site Français | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe
---------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material.
---------------------------------
Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);document.write("");
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