At the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union, we have followed with great interest the press reform announced by the country’s highest authorities three years ago. We have closely supported it and placed high hopes in it. The sector had begun to reap some of its benefits and was expecting more.
However, the step of selecting press representatives for the new composition following the law restructuring the High Authority for the Press and Audiovisual Media (HAPA) has been a major disappointment to us. The supervising ministry invited the Union to designate two people for membership before midday on Friday.
Despite its importance and central role in the overall reform process, this step did not allow for the practice of consultation among media stakeholders, particularly serious organisations such as ours, which follows alternation in leadership, includes hundreds of press members and brings together numerous journalism organisations.
The Executive Board held an emergency meeting at midday yesterday, Thursday, to examine this development and discuss the response to the supervising ministry’s letter. Following extensive discussion, the Board unanimously adopted the following decisions:
- Approve the Union’s boycott of this composition under the present circumstances, for the reasons set out above.
- Regard this process as a setback on the path of reform. In the Board’s view, it does not help combat the dilution of professional standards: involving everyone who holds a licence or declaration in the sector represents a return to square one and fails to reflect the true scope and objectives of the reform.
While respecting the principle of trade union freedom upheld in the country, the Board believes that it does not mean dispensing with standards or allowing disorder. This has negative consequences for the sector as a whole and for the country’s image, mixing actors of very different quality and disrupting the participation of genuine stakeholders in the anticipated reform process.
- Call for this process to be reconsidered and returned to the path of genuine reform, without wasting this opportunity for Mauritanian journalists or the country, as more than enough opportunities have already been lost.
The Executive Board of the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union