Will a coup leader’s expertise help Cote D’Ivoire?
AU elects Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as head of a special committee to try to mediate a solution to Cote D’Iv
The AU’s Peace and Security Council has appointed Mauritania’s former military coup leader and present ‘elected’, ‘civilian’ president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, as head of a special committee to try to mediate a solution to the Cote D’Ivoire electoral crisis. Just a point to reflect on.
Background: Ould Abdel Azizi staged a military coup and toppled a democratically elected government in Mauritania on 6 August 2008.
The coup triggered an outcry from the international community and particularly from the African Union which suspended ties with the new junta regime.
Both the UN and the EU stepped in and imposed punitive measures on Aziz’s regime.
But he was able to turn the situation around in his favour when he struck a deal with the oppostion parties whereby new general elections were organised and, for love or for money, he came out the winner!!
If we can argue that Gbagbo has in a way made a coup on democracy in Cote D’Ivoire, I wonder what lessons is Mauritania’s Aziz expected to give to Gbagbo?