When General Mohammad Ould Abdel Aziz chose a diplomat who enjoys a European experience to assume the position of prime minister in Mauritania, right after the August coup last year, it was clear that he wanted to contain the European reactions vis-à-vis the dangers of threatening democratic legitimacy. But Abdel Aziz's wager on the experience and reputation of diplomat Mohammad Laghdaf will confirm him at the head of the premiership for the third time, in addition to the transitional period during which the presidential elections were conducted. It seemed to President Ould Abdel Aziz, who has likely become the undisputed number one man after the separation that distanced General Ala Ould Mohammad Fal and besieged the regime's opponents in a place that was below their expectations, that waving the dossier of economic and social reform is closer to containing the challenges of the current period. The slogan he raised during his electoral campaign against the lobbies of corruption remains unimportant unless it touches the patterns of change on the ground. Besides, enticing the European and American support definitely passes through the gate of reforms. Ould Abdel Aziz seeks to direct simultaneous strong messages for the black and marginalized people in the country's demographic composition, through appointing Deputy Mohammad Ould Baleel at the head of the Ministry of the Interior which is largely influential in the hierarchy of power. Mauritania has gradually managed to get rid of the phenomenon of slavery and to absorb the implications of the mass departure of black people. Its southern neighbor Senegal understood the situation after settling the crisis of the river, which had once strained the relations between both countries. Dakar's mediation even helped the feuding parties in Mauritania reach an agreement over an honorable exit that did not comply with the ambitions of the opposition. However, this exit represented a minimum level of what should have been done to overcome the tunnel. The precedence given to organizing the domestic front makes it inevitable to turn the clock backward to a margin of democracy, so as to give the opposition, at least, a larger role in managing the conflict from a less tense political perspective. There is a new reality that imposes itself on all the parties of the political game, in order to improve the records of the regime, in the wake of the criticism leveled for the army's seizure of power. There is a point of view that links the course of reforms in its political, economic and cultural aspects, with the support of women's condition, the protection of human rights, the activation of civil society's role, the consolidation of pluralism, and the protection of minorities. It seems like a transit pass to the other river bank. Another feature of the formation of the first government of the Mauritanian president is the appointment of Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass who was the first Arab woman appointed as foreign minister, not to mention the fact that she comes from the very reputable Ould Mouknass family. Her father Hamdi managed to spearhead his country's diplomacy at a critical period that witnessed the outbreak of the Sahara conflict in the mid-1970s. At the time, Moroccan Foreign Minister and the leader of independence Mohammad Bousha represented a bold pair in facing Spain, the former colonizer of Al-Saqia al-Hamra and Wadi al-Dhahab. Moreover, giving more ministerial portfolios to capable Mauritanian women reflects a trend towards enhancing the image of the land of one million poets with more than one million women who play distinctive roles, whether they yield to the results of the elections, or continue to oppose them. However, the most important thing in the redistribution of roles and positions is that the security challenges have become more aggressive in a society known for its great tendency toward peace, renouncing violence, and settling any crises through tribal consensus. What is remarkable in the development of the situation in Mauritania is that the advocates of building the state were divided by the ways to achieve their goal. The opposition member Ould Daddah still longs for the period when his family ruled Nouakchott. But the weird thing is that the daughter of Foreign Minister Hamdi Ould Mouknass occupied the diplomatic front at a critical moment. The black people enjoyed a resounding voice pending the elimination of blame among the parties of the conflict. They were partners in a crisis that was tailored to fit the fears, and thus, they should turn into partners in solving it at a cost that does not go beyond the rules of democratic normalization, so that it becomes a reality, not an illusion or deception.
