Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef
يحيى ولد أحمد الواقف


imagesize = 150px
order = Prime Minister of Mauritania
president = Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi
term_start = 06 May 2008
term_end = 06 August 2008
predecessor = Zeine Ould Zeidane
successor = Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf
birth_date = 1960
birth_place = Moudjéria, Mauritania
party = ADIL

Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef ( _ar. يحيى ولد أحمد الواقف) (born 1960 [http://www.ami.mr/fr/Premier%20Ministre.html CV] as Prime Minister, Agence Mauritanienne d'Information (accessed July 6, 2008) fr icon.] ) is a Mauritanian politician. He was appointed as Prime Minister of Mauritania on May 6 2008, [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?art_cle=45534 "Mauritanie: démission du Premier ministre Zeine Ould Zeidane"] , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 6, 2008 fr icon.] [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=62816 "Mauritania: Ould Ahmed El Waghev becomes new Premier"] , African Press Agency, May 6, 2008.] [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/06/17.html "M. Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef nommé Premier ministre"] , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, May 6, 2008 fr icon.] serving until the August 2008 coup d'état. Waghef is also President of the National Pact for Democracy and Development (ADIL), and he was Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic from 2007 to 2008.

Waghef was born in Moudjéria. He was Director-General of the Mauritanian Gas Company ("Societé Mauritanienne de Gaz", SOMAGAZ) from January 2003 to August 2003 and then Director of the Banc d'Arguin National Park from September 2003 until he was appointed as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Hydraulics and Energy on October 27 2004. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/Archives2004/10/27/5.htm "Communiqué du conseil des ministres"] , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, October 27, 2004 fr icon.] He served in that capacity until April 2005, at which point he became Director-General of Air Mauritanie, remaining in that post until December 2006. In February 2007, he became Advisor to the Minister of Finance.

After President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi took office in April 2007, he appointed Waghef as Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic on April 28 2007. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2007/avril/28/3.html "Nominations à la Présidence de la République"] , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, April 28, 2007 fr icon.] On January 5 2008, Waghef was elected as President of ADIL, a party that was formed to support Abdallahi, at the end of the party's constitutive congress. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/janvier/05/03.html "Formation du parti de la majorité "Adel" (Ere Nouvelle de la Démocratie et du Développement) et élection de ses instances provisoires"] , Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, January 5, 2008 fr icon.]

Prime Minister Zeine Ould Zeidane resigned on May 6 2008, and Abdallahi appointed Waghef to succeed him on the same day. Following consultations with majority and opposition parties regarding the formation of the new government, the opposition Union of the Forces of Progress (UFP) announced on May 9 that it intended to participate in Waghef's government; [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/09/05.html "L'UFP décide de participer au gouvernement"] , AMI, May 9, 2008 fr icon.] the opposition National Coalition for Reform and Development (Tewassoul) also announced that it had decided to participate in the government on May 10. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/10/07.html "Le parti "Tewassoul" annonce sa participation au gouvernement"] , AMI, May 10, 2008 fr icon.] However, the President of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD), Ahmed Ould Daddah, said on May 7 that the RFD—the main opposition party—would not participate; [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/09/04.html "Le RFD décide de ne pas participer au futur gouvernement"] , AMI, May 9, 2008 fr icon.] the President of the Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal, Ibrahima Moctar Sarr, also said on May 10 that his party would not participate due to policy differences. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/10/03.html "L'AJD/MR annonce qu'il ne participera au nouveau gouvernement"] , AMI, May 10, 2008 fr icon.] On May 11, Waghef's government was named; it was comprised of 30 members, including 24 ministers, [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?art_cle=45651 "Mauritanie: formation d'un gouvernement de 30 membres dont 4 de l'opposition"] , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 11, 2008 fr icon.] [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Mai/11/09.html "Désignation du nouveau gouvernement"] , AMI, May 11, 2008 fr icon.] and 12 of its members had previously served under Zeidane. Members of ADIL accounted for almost two-thirds of Waghef's government and held most of the key ministries. Four members of the government were from the two opposition parties which decided to participate.

On June 30 2008, 39 deputies in the National Assembly (out of a total of 95) filed a motion of censure against Waghef's government. [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article&id_article=68292 "Le Parlement mauritanien menacé de dissolution"] , African Press Agency, July 2, 2008 fr icon.] [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAH_kkLbbemu9ryf5xV-jEZwBv7Q "Mauritanian government quits before voting on censure motion"] , AFP, July 3, 2008.] Most of these deputies were from ADIL, although the RFD (the main opposition party) also declared its support for the censure motion. The deputies complained that Waghef's government had not presented a program and that too many positions in the government had been given to opposition parties and to figures who had served under President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya. 24 senators declared that they were in "unconditional solidarity" with the deputies who filed the censure motion. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Juillet/01/08.html "Des membres du Sénat se déclarent solidaires des députés oeuvrant pour faire aboutir une motion de censure contre le gouvernement"] , AMI, July 1, 2008 fr icon.]

President Abdallahi, speaking on July 2, called on the deputies to reconsider. [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Juillet/02/08.html "Le président de la république adresse un discours à la nation"] , AMI, July 2, 2008 fr icon.] He said that the motion was surprising because it was initated by deputies belonging to the party that headed the government, and also because the government's program had not even been presented yet. In addition, Abdallahi argued that Waghef's government was so new that there had not been enough time to properly evaluate its performance, and he warned that he might dissolve the National Assembly if the censure motion was adopted. Before the censure motion could be voted on, Waghef and his government resigned on July 3 in order "to preserve the cohesion of the majority which supports [Abdallahi's] programme"; he urged unity and dialogue among ADIL and the presidential majority. Waghef was reappointed by Abdallahi on the same day. The deputies who supported the censure motion described the resignation and reappointment as a positive step and said that the composition of the next government should properly reflect the results of the previous election. [ [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Juillet/04/10.html "Initiative en faveur de la motion de censure: satisfaction pour le développement des évènements"] , AMI, July 4, 2008 fr icon.]

Waghef said following his reappointment on July 3 that he wanted to form a government of "broad consensus". [ [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/pays/mauritanie/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=XIN80858lepresusnes0 "Le Premier ministre mauritanien promet un gouvernement de large consensus"] , Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), July 3, 2008 fr icon.] An opposition coalition composed of a dozen parties denounced Waghef's reappointment on July 7. [ [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/pays/mauritanie/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=XIN64628uneconeinat0 "Une coalition de l'opposition exige le limogeage du Premier ministre mauritanien"] , Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), July 7, 2008 fr icon.] On July 8, Waghef announced that no opposition parties would be included in the new government, thereby excluding the UFP and Tawassoul. [ [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article&id_article=68916 "Les islamistes mauritaniens restent dans la majorité malgré leur exclusion du futur gouvernement"] , African Press Agency, July 9, 2008 fr icon.] The new government was named on July 15; [http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2008/Juillet/15/09.html "Composition du nouveau gouvernement"] , AMI, July 15, 2008 fr icon.] [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/pays/mauritanie/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=AFP55728formanoitis0 "Formation d'un gouvernement sans les partis de l'opposition"] , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), July 16, 2008 fr icon.] there were 30 members of this government, including 12 who were new to the government. No members of the opposition were included in this government, and the ministers associated with Taya were also excluded.

On August 4 2008, 25 of ADIL's 49 deputies in the National Assembly, along with 24 of its 45 senators, announced that they were leaving the party, thereby depriving it of its parliamentary majority. [ [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article&id_article=71556 "Le parti au pouvoir en Mauritanie perd sa majorité au parlement"] , African Press Agency, August 4, 2008 fr icon.]

2008 coup d'etat

On August 6 2008 he was arrested in a military "coup d'état" along with Abdallahi and the interior minister. [cite news |title=Mauritanian military stages coup |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/08/20088695834599264.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=2008-08-06 |accessdate=2008-08-06] The coup plotters were top security forces who had been fired by Abdallahi earlier in the day; these included General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmad Ould Bakri. [ [http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=22334 themedialine.org, Generals Seize Power in Mauritanian Coup] ] Member of parliament Mohammed Al Mukhtar claimed popular support for the coup, saying that Abdallahi behaved in an "authoritarian" manner and "marginalized the majority in parliament." [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hmqqO8XJixmimcunkNvDYctnppTgD92CODDO0 "Renegade army officers stage coup in Mauritania"] , Associated Press, August 6, 2008.] Waghef was reportedly held at an army barracks immediately after the coup. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEIyEn3Vq_srPHa7_tSXzXdrkluQ "President held in Mauritania coup"] , AFP, August 6, 2008.]

Waghef and three other high-ranking officials were released from custody by the military on August 11, while Abdallahi remained in custody. [cite news |title= Mauritania's toppled PM released |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7554863.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=2008-08-11 |accessdate=2008-08-11] [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/11/news/Mauritania.php "Mauritania coup leaders free prime minister"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), August 11, 2008.] A few hours later, Waghef spoke before a rally of thousands of people and expressed defiance toward the junta, saying that Mauritanians did not accept its rule and urging the people to continue struggling to restore Abdallahi to power. Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf was appointed as Prime Minister by junta leader Abdel Aziz on August 14, but Waghef said at a news conference on the same day that this appointment was "illegal" and that the government he had headed was still the legitimate government. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iTMgALcRkQDycj_NGI7dbpPkXj3g "Mauritanian junta names new PM"] , AFP, August 14, 2008.]

Waghef said in an interview with Abu Dhabi TV on August 20 that President Abdallahi had dismissed the senior officers because they had already been planning to seize power on August 9. [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRZiAT1D2r8BUAxmPRhTYeuykOTA "Ousted Mauritanian prime minister re-arrested"] , AFP, August 21, 2008.] He subsequently travelled to Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania in order to participate in an anti-coup protest there, but was arrested upon arrival on August 21 2008. [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/22/content_9601108.htm "Mauritanian former PM re-arrested"] , Xinhua, August 21, 2008.] He was reportedly arrested because he left Nouakchott without the junta's permission. On August 22, it was announced that he was being taken to his home village of Achram, where he would be kept under house arrest. According to Minister of Decentralization Yahya Ould Kebd, the junta sought to "rein in his activism", saying that "his contact with the outside will probably be limited but not banned". [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj55zREGDZJteMHijuFAlKQ6-mww "Mauritanian PM to be kept under house arrest"] , AFP, August 22, 2008.]

References