FNDD REMAINS IN SOLIDARITY WITH ABDALLAHI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000411

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM MR
SUBJECT: FNDD REMAINS IN SOLIDARITY WITH ABDALLAHI

REF: DAKAR 793

Classified By: CDA DENNIS HANKINS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D)


1. (C) Summary: FNDD co-President Mohamed Ould Maouloud
denied Senegalese and European statements that the Front
National pour la Defense de la Democratie (FNDD) and the
Rassemblement des Forces Democratiques (RFD) were ready to
accept implementation of the Dakar Accord without President
Abdallahi's resignation. Maouloud reassured Charge that the
FNDD remains in solidarity with President Abdallahi and that
there are no divisions among the FNDD and RFD, who are in
agreement about the importance of solving the High State
Council (HSC) issue to ensure free and fair elections as well
as Mauritania's future stability. Maouloud explained that
President Abdallahi had even agreed to move forward with the
formation of a government of national unity and election
planning while continuing negotiations about the status of
the HSC and his resignation. In light of this information,
the decree signed today by Aziz's interim government
convening the electoral college for a July 18 election is
clearly a unilateral and confrontational measure. End
summary.


2. (C) Prior to a June 24 meeting at the Senegalese Embassy
regarding the Dakar talks resuming tomorrow in Nouakchott,
Charge d'Affaires and PolOff met with FNDD's Mohamed Ould
Maouloud to inquire about statements made by the Senegalese
and the Europeans saying that the FNDD and RFD were ready to
negotiate a deal to the exclusion of President Abdallahi
(Reftel). In recent Dakar talks, Senegalese Foreign Minister
Gadio and the Spanish and French Ambassadors tried to
convince the US and other International Contact Group (ICG)
members that the FNDD and RFD were eager to participate in
elections and would be willing to move forward with
implementation of the Dakar Accord without requiring
President Abdallahi's resignation or consent as a
legitimizing pre-condition. Charge assured Maouloud that the
U.S. position was firm that we would not support a unilateral
electoral strategy inconsistent with the consensual letter
and spirit of the Dakar Agreement. If, however, there were
divisions between the opposition parties and President
Abdallahi that would see the FNDD accept something short of
what the President wanted, we needed to know so we could
reach a policy decision. Maouloud welcomed the frank
question, but emphatically denied that the opposition parties
and the President were on the outs. He stressed that the
FNDD is with President Abdallahi and that there are no
divisions among the FNDD nor between the FNDD and RFD. He
said they all want the HSC question solved to ensure election
transparency and future stability for Mauritania. If the HSC
remains in place, said Maouloud, Mauritanians will doubt the
legitimacy of the results, particularly if Aziz wins. The
opposition is also concerned that the HSC could attempt a
coup d'etat if Aziz looses the election. Mauritania's future
political stability, stressed Maouloud, depends on the
dissolution or "constitutionalization" of the HSC. Maouloud
explained that the FNDD had left as a purely personal
decision whether Abdallahi would resign or not. The HSC is
not, however, just an Abdallahi issue (a matter of principle
that, if he is to resign, he will not resign for a framework
that is inherently unconstitutional). For the FNDD and RFD
(Maouloud noted that the RFD statements on this had been even
more emphatic than his) because it gets to the very question
of whether there will be reasonably free and fair elections
or whether the military will remain as the clear real power.



3. (C) Maouloud explained that President Abdallahi was not
an obstacle to holding elections because he was willing to
sign a decree forming the government of national union to
allow election planning to move forward. He explained
Abdallahi would transfer his powers to that government and
then continue negotiating the HSC issue and the conditions
for his resignation even if that ran through to the
elections. Comment: Gadio told the ICG this was a
possibility. Nevertheless, the ICG thought it was risky to
engage in election planning while leaving the HSC issue and

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Abdallahi's resignation unsolved. If no agreement is reached
before election day, things could fall apart and bring
everything back to square one. End comment.


4. (C) Maouloud thanked Charge for the US position
throughout the crisis, saying the opposition "is counting on
the U.S." to defend legality. He denounced Aziz's interim
government decision to move forward with elections as
unilateral and Aziz's clear return to a confrontational
posture. Comment: Today, the presidency released a
communique convening the electoral college on July 18 "in
accordance with the Dakar Agreements." The convocation gives
candidates until Friday midnight to register their
candidacies. The opposition was not consulted on this
measure. The "interim president's" communique is a clear
breach of the Dakar Accords on two fronts: it constitutes a
unilateral action and does not respect the sequence of events
described in the agreement, by which the process starts with
Abdallahi's decree forming the national unity government.


5. (C) Comment: If Maouloud's statements are true, Gadio
and the Europeans are being disingenuous by stating the FNDD
and RFD are ready to drop Abdallahi or are falling for
disinformation from the Aziz camp. We have little reason to
doubt Maouloud because the FNDD and RFD position throughout
the talks was consistent, clear and harmonized. We met
privately at the Embassy giving Maouloud the chance to speak
freely of any internal FNDD wrangling as he has in the past.
Aziz's unilateral decision to move forward with elections
will further alienate the opposition. It may be an attempt
to distract them from the HSC issue and force them to quickly
form the national unity government to avoid being left out or
it may be a sign that Aziz does not care for consensus
anymore. SEPTEL will discuss views of the various
facilitators on the eve of President Wade's arrival in
Nouakchott. End comment.
HANKINS