Mauritanian National Renaissance Party
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Mauritanian National Renaissance Party
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| Secretary-General | Ahmed Baba Miské |
| Founded | 25 September 1958 |
| Dissolved | 4 October 1961 |
| Preceded by | Mauritanian Regroupment Party |
| Succeeded by | Mauritanian People's Party |
| Headquarters | Nouakchott, Mauritania |
| Ideology | Arab nationalism |
Mauritanian National Renaissance Party (French: Parti de la Renaissance Nationale, Arabic: حزب النهضة الوطنية الموريتانية an-Nahda al-Wataniyya al-Mauritaniya (Nahda)) was an Arab nationalist political party in Mauritania from 1958 to 1961. It was led by Ahmed Baba Miské.
In July 1958, two months after the Aleg Conference which founded the party, the Mauritanian Regroupment Party expelled Ahmed Baba Miské and other youth leaders from the party because of their vocal opposition to Mokhtar Ould Daddah. meeting at Kaedi, where the party was formed on 25 September 1958.
Unlike the cautious conservatism espoused by the PRM, Nahda was more radical, and wanted immediate and total independence from France, and closer relations with Morocco. The demand for a closer relationship with Morocco was interpreted by some as support for the concept of Greater Morocco espoused by Allal al-Fassi, which would either be on the basis of a federation or a unitary state.
Initially intended to unite the opposition to Daddah and the PRM, the Arab nationalist nature of Nahda worried many Mauritanians, especially Black African in Southern Mauritanian, who saw Arab nationalism as synonymous with Moorish domination. Nahda was able to attract a lot of support, including from Mauritanian businesses, and also financial support from Morocco.
Factional infighting within Nahda and accusations of corruption exacerbated Nahda's decline, as it gave the PRM a pretext for banning all opposition activity, which it did so on the eve of the 1959 election. The PRM won every seat, and Nahda was left with no political or legal avenues to express opposition to the government. More radical members of the party, which was by now heavily fragmented, mounted a campaign of violence and civil unrest in Atar and Nouakchott in May 1960, including several bombings. In response President Daddah placed five Nahda leaders, including Miske, in detention in the remote Hodh Ech Chargui Region. They were held there until February 1961, three months after independence.
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