Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef - Political Career

Political Career

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 27 October 2004. 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 28 April 2007. On 5 January 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.

Prime Minister Zeine Ould Zeidane resigned on 6 May 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 9 May that it intended to participate in Waghef's government; the opposition National Coalition for Reform and Development (Tewassoul) also announced that it had decided to participate in the government on 10 May. However, the President of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD), Ahmed Ould Daddah, said on 7 May that the RFD—the main opposition party—would not participate; the President of the Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal, Ibrahima Moctar Sarr, also said on 10 May that his party would not participate due to policy differences. On 11 May, Waghef's government was named; it had 30 members, including 24 ministers, 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 30 June 2008, 39 deputies in the National Assembly (out of a total of 95) filed a motion of censure against Waghef's government. 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.

President Abdallahi, speaking on 2 July, called on the deputies to reconsider. He said that the motion was surprising because it was initiated 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 3 July in order "to preserve the cohesion of the majority which supports 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.

Waghef said following his reappointment on 3 July that he wanted to form a government of "broad consensus". An opposition coalition composed of a dozen parties denounced Waghef's reappointment on 7 July. On 8 July, Waghef announced that no opposition parties would be included in the new government, thereby excluding the UFP and Tawassoul. The new government was named on 15 July; 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 4 August 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.