ECOWAS followed through on its threat to suspend Niger after President Mamadou Tandja went ahead with legislative vote. Tandja ignored last-minute appeals by ECOWAS leaders to delay the poll, saying that election preparations were too far advanced. "ECOWAS is already in touch with the African Union to put the Niger file also on the agenda of the African Union Peace and Security Council , which would also lead to the United Nations taking a similar decision," said Abdel Fatau Musah, the political director of the ECOWAS alliance. "And we know that our partners, like the European Union, are also considering very severed measures against President Tandja and the authorities in Niger for blatantly casting aside their constitution, which actually forbids their president from going beyond two terms." Alat Mogaskiya, one of the founders of Niger's Party for Democracy and Socialism , said that Tandja had the legal authority to dismiss parliament, but ignored the constitutional mandate to have new elections to replace those lawmakers within 90 days. He claimed that the new Tandja government is illegal and illegitimate, because the referendum extending the president's term was unconstitutional.
ECOWAS followed through on its threat to suspend Niger after President went ahead with legislative vote. Tandja ignored last-minute appeals by ECOWAS leaders to delay the poll, saying that election preparations were too far advanced. "ECOWAS is already in touch with the African Union to put the Niger file also on the agenda of the African Union , which would also lead to the United Nations taking a similar decision," said Abdel Fatau Musah, the political director of the ECOWAS alliance. "And we know that our partners, like the European Union, are also considering very severed measures against President Tandja and the authorities in Niger for blatantly casting aside their constitution, which actually forbids their president from going beyond two terms." Alat Mogaskiya, one of the founders of Niger's , said that Tandja had the legal authority to dismiss parliament, but ignored the constitutional mandate to have new elections to replace those lawmakers within 90 days. He claimed that the new Tandja government is illegal and illegitimate, because the referendum extending the president's term was unconstitutional.
D
Mamadou Tandja
D
Peace and Security Council
D
Party for Democracy and Socialism