23 October 2009
Abuja — It has become clear that Mr Mamadou Tandja, Niger Republic president's bid to illegally and fragrantly orchestrate the abridgement of the country's constitution and seek a third term in office is continuing apace, in spite of the threats of sanctions by the international community. Turning a deaf ear to international calls for postponement and a rebuff to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and a massive boycott by the country's main opposition parties, Mr Tandja earlier this week pressed on with controversial parliamentary elections conducted largely to enhance his grip on power. Tandja's mandate as the president of Niger Republic will officially come to an end in December, and his various shenanigans to perpetuate himself beyond that date has rightly been described by the opposition-and much of the international community-as a coup d'état.
The ECOWAS, the African Union and the European Union, have all urged Mr Tandja to heed the opposition's plea to delay the polls, to no avail. To emphasise the seriousness with which it viewed the unfolding events in the country, ECOWAS despatched a delegation headed by the president of Liberia, Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, for a last-minute attempt to make Mr Tandja see reason and call off the elections and open talks with his foes. Mr Tandja refused. He held his ground despite the explicit warning delivered to him that he risked full and automatic sanctions. Niger's Interior Minister, Mr Albade Abouba was reported to have said that calling off the election would not be appropriate. 'You cannot ask people to go back on their word', Mr Abouba was quoted as saying. 'Elections are not being held for President Tandja'. Mr Abouba's argument makes no sense, because if that were the case, why would Mr Tandja want to break the constitutional limit of his tenure, and seek to stay in office beyond December? Moreover, the elections became necessary only because he tried to short-circuit the process.
When Mr Tandja began his plan to succeed himself, he prematurely dissolved the country's parliament last June, because otherwise the parliamentarians, who had got wind of his intentions, were firm against it. The elections held earlier this week were to elect the 113-member parliament which Mr Tanjda hopes would be filled by his loyalists who would not pose a hindrance to his bid. Two months after he dissolved parliament, removing a strong obstacle to the realisation of his plan Tandja, who has been in power since 1999, called a national referendum with a single agenda: to approve the prolongation of his mandate beyond December, and for additional three years, removing the cap on term limits so that he can stand in future elections, probably for life. Casting his vote this week, the 71-year-old Tandja observed: 'I wish that this day will be good for Niger, that the voting will pass off smoothly and that the elected deputies (members of parliament) will be true patriots'.
The rest of the world, particularly ECOWAS, must remind Mr Tanjda that on the contrary, that day would be marked as a black spot in the desire to rid the continent of sit-tight leaders and dictators like him. The ECOWAS has threatened sanctions, and has followed up with the announcement that it has suspended Niger's membership of the organisation. The effort to bring him to heel must not end there. Both the ECOWAS and the African Union must mobilise their considerable diplomatic resources in persuading other world bodies, including the United Nations, especially its Security Council, now that Nigeria has been elected into it, to bring pressure to bear on the present political leadership in Niger that the course it has chosen has no place in our contemporary world. The opposition in Niger must not give up, and it is the duty of Nigeria, Niger's big neighbour and source of crucial trade and other engagements, to step in and lead others in the international community and, through it quickly bring about a peaceful resolution of the political turmoil there before it escalates further. The cherade in Niger must not be allowed to stand because it is a slap on the country's constitutional rule and has potential for causing division and unrest in the country.
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