Ecowas Observers to Monitor the Second Round of the 2011 Presidential Election in Niger

8 March 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Niamey - Niger — Following the presidential and legislative elections of 31 January 2011 in Niger and in conformity with the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, deployed an Observer Mission to monitor the second round of the Nigerien presidential election. Led by the former Togolese Prime Minister, Koffi Sama, this Mission seeks to ensure a smooth electoral process with the view to guaranteeing a free, transparent and credible election.

About hundred observers were mobilized in this regard from all the ECOWAS Member States, with the exception of Niger and Cape Verde. Thus, the Mission comprised, among others, members of ECOWAS Court of Justice, Parliament and Council of the Wise, representatives of Civil Society and National Electoral Commissions from the region, Ambassadors of ECOWAS Member States accredited to Niger as well as experts in election observation trained at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre in Accra, Ghana. The observers will be deployed in the six (6) regions of the country and the Urban Community of Niamey, in order to observe and monitor all polling operations and assess the conduct of the election.

This assessment will also be on the regularity, transparency and fairness of the poll at the end of which the Mission will make its opinion known and, if necessary, make appropriate recommendations in order to improve the electoral process. Present on the Nigerien territory since 7 March 2011, the ECOWAS observer Mission will make a Preliminary Statement on the conduct of the presidential election at a press conference scheduled for Sunday, 13 March 2011.

The second round of the Nigerien presidential election will take place on Saturday, 12 March 2011 between Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, candidate of the Parti Nigérien pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme (PNSD) and Mr. Seini Oumarou, candidate of the Mouvement National pour la Société de Développement (MNSD). ECOWAS urges the two candidates, political party leaders as well as their supporters and sympathizers to exercise restraint so that the poll takes place in peace and national cohesion.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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