Mauritania: Opposition welcomes probe of ex-president Aziz's administration
Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The National Rally for Reform and Development (RNRD/Tawassoul/Islamist Movement), the main opposition party in Mauritania, says it welcomed the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CEP), formed in January 2020 to carry out broad investigations into a decade of governance of the regime of President Mohamed ould Abdel Aziz (2006-2019), according to an official statement received by PANA on Friday.
The commission is investigating the award of a hundred or so public contracts in the fields of energy and infrastructures, public service concessions (port), the management and liquidation of public enterprises, and land management in Nouakchott, thus pointing to the systematic violation of all the rules for the award of contracts and transparency in governance.
The CEP report, approved by lawmakers on Wednesday, recommends that the matter be referred to the courts to hold violators responsible.
For the first time in the history of Mauritania, a former head of state is facing legal proceedings in connection with facts related to the management of the economy under his authority.
Furthermore, the declaration of the Islamist party "considers that the formation of the High Court of Justice (HCJ), established by constitutional provisions, is a normal requirement that should never have been delayed", as was the case under the regime of President Mohamed ould Abdel Aziz.
The High Court of Justice is competent to judge the current and former heads of state "in cases of high treason" and members of the government for offenses committed in the exercise of their duties and qualified as "offenses against the security of the state".
-0- PANA SAS/JSG/SOC/MTA/VAO 31July2020
