The military junta that overthrew the government in Niger suspended this Friday (28) the constitution and all the country’s institutions, through “Order 2023-01 of July 28”, the first document issued by the group, which contains five articles.
In a statement read this morning on public television by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, it was announced that the coup leaders will assume “all legislative and executive powers” while awaiting “the return to order” in the country.
Furthermore, one of the leaders of the junta informed that the president of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), Brigadier General Abdourrahmane Tiani, is the new “head of state and international relations of Niger”.
The first article of the new document that organizes the nation’s political management is the one that suspends the Constitution of November 25, 2010 and dissolves the institutions that emanate from it.
The second measure legitimizes the creation of the CNSP, whose “composition and functioning will be determined by decree of the President of the Council”, that is, General Tiani.
“Waiting for the return to normal constitutional order, the CSNP exercises all legislative and executive powers”, reads the third article.
The fourth rule of the document, signed by Tiani himself, determines that “the president of the CNSP (Tiani) is the head of state and represents the State of Niger in international relations”.
The last article provides that the ordinance will be published in the Official Gazette of Niger as a matter of urgency.
This Friday, the colonel spokesman for the junta read another communiqué in which he called on all ministries general secretaries (now heads of departments after the ministers were dismissed) to appear at the headquarters of the former Presidential Palace in Niamey.
O General Abdourrahmane Tianiwho presented himself this morning as the uprising leaderspoke for the first time since the seizure of power, which took place on Wednesday.
The first pronouncement of the rebels after the invasion of troops in the presidential headquarters justified the act for the “economic and social mismanagement of the country”.
The general also added other criticisms to Bazoum’s political management, especially in the area of public security.
He denounced that the deposed president refused to collaborate with neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, also governed by military junta after coups d’état, when the three countries share the area where the greatest jihadist activity on the continent takes place.
Despite the uprising, the commander guaranteed the continuity of “all international commitments signed by the Republic of Niger and the guarantee of human rights” and asked his partners to provide “necessary support” to the council.
The Armed Forces expressed this Thursday (27) support for the military group, through a statement. In the document, Major General of the Army Abdou Sidikou Issa justified the decision as a way to preserve the life of Bazoum and his family.
Yesterday morning, French President Emmanuel Macron warned of the “dangers” of the coup in Niger. In the same way as other world authorities such as the United States and Russia, the head of state called for the president’s release.
Currently, the Sahel region or the “hunger belt”, where Niger is located, is one of the most troubled in Africa due to conflicts by Islamic jihadists.
In addition, the population living in the locality suffers from high rates of hunger, violence and lack of access to basic health services.
Niger was still one of the only countries located in that part of the continent that maintained a democratically elected government.
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