Ibrahima Moctar Sarr | |
|---|---|
إبراهيما مختار صار | |
| President of theAJD/MR | |
| In office 5 August 2007 – 20 January 2024 | |
| Succeeded by | Mamadou Bocar Ba |
| Leader of theFLAM | |
| In office November 1983 – November 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Party abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1949 (age 75–76) |
| Political party | AJD/MR(2007 - present) |
| Other political affiliations | FLAM(1983 - 1989) Mauritanian Workers Party |
| Occupation | Journalist, Politician |
Ibrahima Moctar Sarr (Serer:Ibrayma Muxtaar Saar;Arabic:إبراهيما مختار صار;Pulaar: Ibrahima Muktar Saar; born in 1949) is aMauritanianjournalist andpolitician ofSerer origin. His surnameSarr, being one of the classicSerer patronyms.[1]
Running as an independent candidate, he placed fifth in theMarch 2007 presidential election, and he has been the President of theAlliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal (AJD/MR) party from August 2007 until January 2024.[2][3]
After studying inCesti,Senegal, Sarr trained as ateacher before working ininsurance. He became politically active in 1972, being a co-founder member of theMauritanian Workers Party. Increasingly active as ajournalist, he appeared regularly on radio and television. In 1983 he was a co-founder of theAfrican Liberation Forces of Mauritania (ex-FLAM;Force pour la Liberation Africaine de Mauritanie), and in 1986 he was a communication specialist with FLAM when they published the second edition of theManifesto of the oppressed black Mauritanian. Following thisanti-racist publication, which highlighted alleged "racial practices" by the Mauritanian Government, many black leaders were arrested and thrown to jail. Ibrahima Moctar Sarr was sentenced to four years in jail.
In 1989, after being released from jail, Sarr left and resigned from FLAM and ceased all his political activities until the democratization process was started in 1992 byPresidentMaaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya. Sarr then joined thePopular Progressive Alliance (APP) underMessaoud Ould Boulkheir, becoming a leading member of the party. He later left the APP.[4]
Sarr stood in theMarch 2007 presidential election on an anti-racist platform. In order to facilitate his candidacy, he founded the "Movement for National Reconciliation", although he stood as anindependent. Claiming that "I am the candidate of the oppressed", he called forequal rights forPulaar,Soninké andWolof people alongsideMoors, and the return of Mauritanianrefugees fromSenegal. Sarr came in fifth place with 7.95% of the vote in the election,[5] and he backedAhmed Ould Daddah for the second round.[6]
Sarr's Movement for National Reconciliation subsequently merged with the Alliance for Justice and Democracy (AJD), and at an extraordinary congress to ratify the merger on August 18–19, Sarr was elected as the leader of the new party, the AJD/MR.[4]
Sarr said on May 10, 2008, that the AJD/MR would not participate in the government of Prime MinisterYahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef due to many policy differences.[7][8]
Following theAugust 2008 military coup, Sarr and the AJD/MR expressed support for the military junta,[9] and Sarr announced on April 11, 2009, that he would be a candidate in the controversialJune 2009 presidential election, which was being organized by the junta and which opposition parties were planning to boycott. Sarr then said that "the conditions are there for a free poll" and thatMauritania did not have democracy underAbdallahi's presidency.[10] The Constitutional Court approved four candidacies, including Sarr's, on April 28.[11][12]
