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to coups. Two days later, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy in Niger staged a day light coup d’état in which they stormed the meeting of the Executive Council and arrested President Tandja and his cabinet.
Nigeria, ECOWAS, La Francophonie and the United Nations must keep their pledge of zero tolerance to coups. The putschists must be forced to keep to their pledge of the immediate restoration of democracy.
We have also argued that the project of self succession by retired Colonel Mamadou Tandja if allowed would lead to political disaster. His political project was to throw away the Constitution of the 5th Republic because the Constitution had a clause which said the section which provided a maximum tenure of two terms of five years each had a key that said it could not be revised. He asked parliament to change it anyway and they refused. He dissolved parliament.
The Constitutional Court then ruled that his plan to continue in power by organising a referendum was illegal. The court was unambiguous - the president cannot change the constitution for the self-serving purpose of prolonging his tenure in office. Tandja then dissolved the Court. He then changed the law governing the operations of the Electoral Commission to force them organise his referendum and changed most articles of the Constitution in a spectacular process that was clearly a civilian coup d’état.
According to the UNDP who monitored the Tuesday 4th August referendum, only 7% of the voters came out to participate. This meant that 93% of the population opposed his coup d’état. He disregarded the people and became the first African leader to change the Constitution and continue in power without even having to organise a fake or rigged election. With the referendum, he gave himself full powers including powers over parliament and judicial institutions and decisions. Even more scandalous, he gave himself the right to postpone the 2009 elections to 2012 when he believes three years of absolute power will create necessary conditions for him to “win” elections.
We commend the people of Niger who have a long history of the struggle for democracy. They established the Front for the Defence of Democracy with over 230 political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations determined to stop Tandja's madness. They were in the streets demanding for an immediate return to the normal constitutional order but Tandja ignored them.
President Tandja was blinded by the multiplication of the price of uranium and the $5 billion deal he struck with the Chinese and wanted to use the money to groom his son to take over in 2012. He now knows the country does not belong to him.
ECOWAS sent General Abdulsalam Abubakar as a Special Envoy and he proposed a six months transition period during which a new constitution could be crafted and elections held. The political opposition parties and civil society accepted. President Tandja refused thereby closing all doors to dialogue. ECOWAS must now continue to demonstrate its leadership by establishing an international contact group that can propose and supervise an extremely swift torn around to democratic rule for the country.
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