25 June 2009
analysis
Niamey — Niger's national bar association has warned that the ruling party's proposed constitutional referendum to allow President Mamadou Tandja to stay on beyond the 10-year limit - deemed unlawful by the country's highest court - amounts to an illegal takeover of power.
"Talk from the country's leaders [of changing the constitution] constitutes not only potential crimes punishable by law, but are also threats to peace and social stability," the legal association wrote in a 17 June statement.
As of 23 June, the army has started patrolling in the capital of Niamey after 18H.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has threatened Niger with economic sanctions if it behaves "undemocratically", said on 23 June it has received assurance from Niger's prime minister that the rule of law will be respected.
"It is impossible to pledge constitutionality while planning an unconstitutional vote, "said Laoual Sayabou, national coordinator of a coalition of human rights and democracy NGOs.
The constitutional court's decisions are legally binding under the existing constitution, which also prohibits changes to the presidential term-limit. Sayabou told IRIN the president's supporters have said President Tandja could take "exceptional measures" to run the country, granted under Article 53.
But this would require approval of the parliament, which Tandja dissolved on 26 May.
Chris Fomunyoh, senior associate for Africa and regional director at the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), told IRIN mounting challenges to the constitution will inevitably turn violent. "The risk of conflict is imminent," he said. "I do not see a peaceful exit for [President] Tandja if he pursues this authoritarian path."
Even though the military has declared neutrality during the referendum debate, NGO coalition leader Sayabou said a military coup is possible given Niger's history of authoritarian military rule. "To restore democracy, elements of the military could carry out a coup d'état."
Sanctions
NDI's Fomunyoh said Niger can ill-afford a donor backlash or ECOWAS sanctions. "Niger is a landlocked country that cannot endure ostracism."
Along with ECOWAS the UN, the French government and the International Trade Union Confederation have also called for Niger's return to constitutional order.
The desert country is near the bottom of a 2008 UN ranking of living conditions around the world. The infant mortality rate was 129 per 1,000 live births and less than a third of the population was literate in 2006, according to government data.
Democratic dispute
A civil society member and former government minister who requested anonymity told IRIN the country is following the rule of law to oppose a new constitution - for now - citing protesters applying for permits to demonstrate, union leaders seeking court permission to order a national strike and then cancelling the strike when it was not granted and entrusting the referendum question to the courts.
"We have worked so hard to grow this fruit of democracy," said the ex-minister who served 10 years ago under President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara. "We do not want our democracy building to be in vain."
Apart from a demonstration that turned violent in June in the southeast Dossa region that resulted in gunfire, looting and several injuries, opponents of constitutional change have mostly respected the law, NGO coalition leader Sayabou told IRIN. "However, there is the risk that violence will spread if the referendum is held," he said.
NDI's Fomunyoh told IRIN referendum opponents have thus far been "smart" during the constitutional controversy. "Referendum opponents have taken their fight to the courts. [President] Tandja is on weak grounds legally... and it will be difficult for him to persist on this track and emerge with the legitimacy he will need to govern."
But ruling party spokesperson Ibrahim Hamidou told IRIN a referendum is democratic and that a new constitution would have widespread support. "The previous constitution was adopted during a tumultuous period following a military coup. It was adopted under violence and pressure. This way, the will of the people can be expressed."
The people's preference will be made known before the scheduled vote, said NGO leader Sayabou. "The country will rise up and will not allow this vote to take place. It would be a betrayal to our fight for democracy and rule of law to do otherwise."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
What in the world is wrong with Africans?
You come to power after somebody relinguishes power to you and when it is your turn to leave for somebody else to come and continue governing the country, you decide that you will change the constitution so that you can stay on forever.
This story is not akin to Niger alone. Gambia's Jammeh is a virtual president for life, Cameroun's Biya swears that he will die in office, Nguema of Equatoria Guinea says his country belongs to him, Museveni is telling his country folks that since he liberated them from Idi Amin, he should be seen as the emperor, Kenya almost burnt to the ground because Kibaki does not see why he has to lose an election, and the less said about countries in the north, the better, because they are all ruled by fiefdoms.
Now with Niger, a poor landlocked country that relies on foreign countries to feed its people, is in the throes of a constitutional crisis, because the president wants to stay on forever and when the constitutional court ruled otherwise, he dissolves the court and is replacing them with his hand picked men who will do as he pleases.
The whole world is saying no to this power grab, but the guy is unperturbed and is marching on at full throttle. He will continue on this path until the men in uniform pounce on him, either kill him or disgrace him by putting hin in a small windowless roomm, lock the door and throw the key away.
My question is: Why can't African presidents behave like the rest of the world, leave office peacefully as is being practiced in Ghana and Nigeria for example, so that they can be respected as elder statesmen? Why do they have to create situations where the people will rise up against them, give excuses to the men in khaki to come and depose them, thereby subjecting them to public humiliation and ridicule?
What in the world is wrong with the African mind? Will somebody please tell me?
Just leave the poor country alone to settle its own differences. Too many hands in the same pot spoil the brew. How can foreigners seem to know more about what exist on the ground than the locals? Same way the World Bank and IMF dictated for Africa for decades to the extent that those greedy leaders and their poorly educated followers can't seem to think for themselves unless they get approval from the West who eventually turned around to blame the ill advised that they can't govern themselves. How can mere neighbors weep and morn more than the immediate family? Crocodile tears, of course – only to make things worse by setting one group against the other in endless battle with un-intended consequences.
Threat or no threat of economic sanctions, let the good people of Niger decide what is best for them. For my brethren up there in Niamey, all you need do is to look south of the border to see what the western-style “democracy” has done for the copy-copy “yessir-yesman” Nigerians. If you think that Mr. Tandja has the wherewithal to deliver quality leadership until he can adequately educate the public & politicians, alike about the principles of democracy, rights of the led and the responsibilities of the leaders by putting the public first, and about the electorates picking the right leader from a multitude of candidates with credible agenda and ideas plus the capacity to deliver & continue building the nation, precepts by precepts, from where the incumbent has stopped, then, by all means keep Mr. Tandja. Your future is in your hands not in some foreign tin-gods that do not have the best interest of your common folks at heart but prefer their own lackey that would sell your assets for peanuts while their choice of your leader wouldn't mind turning the guns on the locals that stand in its way so as to keep the spigot open for the West’s consumption. Good luck!
See all comments (8).
Active Discussions: Niger's Tandja Tries to Extend Rule