Mauritanian Parliament holds first session

The Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, witnessed 2012-2013’s first parliamentary session, opened by parliament speaker Masoud Ould Belkhir. The latter called on the government to reveal the actual accurate health state of Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz for all Mauritanians, adding that truth cannot be kept hidden forever. He added that all Mauritanians have the right to know his accurate health state. The absence of the President from the sessions is causing a great controversy, as according to the Mauritanian constitution, he is the only legalised person to authorise a replacement in case of his absence. Ould Belkhir said: “In case of the President’s absence from the political arena, we all should enjoy feeling responsible and unified. We need to eliminate all disputes and diversities in order to keep Mauritania away from this dangerous slide. Mauritania in the last period was living in a critical crisis due to the strong drought which continued for the last year. Autumn has brought along a gift from Allah and returned happiness to the rural areas. The President’s accident on October 13 put all Mauritanians in a trouble. Rumours have been spread and tensions have increased. Abdelaziz preferred to keep silent until he knew the truth which he confirmed.” The parliament speaker has invited all party leaders, including the supporting majority and the opposition leaders, to calm down and they should put the higher Mauritanian interest as their first priority.