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The coup in Niger
E.
Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
February 21, 2010
The
African Union has come out to condemn the coup in Niger of
February 2010. And today, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
has also added his voice.
Meanwhile
in Niamey the capital of Niger, thousands of people are parading
the streets to support the coup against President Mamadou Tandja
who had imposed previously a presidential term referendum on
them.
The
subject of the referendum was to lengthen the presidential term
in office for Niger, obviously to benefit Tandja.
Apparently, the AU and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had no idea
of Tandja’s machinations – that it could lead to a coup.
President
Tandja had seized power, closed Parliament and the Courts in
Niger under the pretext that “Niger's independence was under
threat.”
He had
assumed emergency powers and forced a referendum on the people.
All this, while the UN and the AU sat unmoved.
It should
be recalled that the US had earlier seen through Tandja’s
machinations and correctly called his move a coup on the people
of Niger.
The
current coup against the Tandja regime must, therefore, be
fittingly seen as a counter coup.
"President Tandja has been trying to extend his mandate in
office. And obviously, that may well have been, you know, an act
on his behalf that precipitated this act…." said a statement
from a spokesperson at the US State Department.
No such
statement has come from the AU or the UN and Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon’s office. This leaves one to wonder whether they
preferred the strong-arm tactics of President Tandja, in his
fervent to use the referendum, to extend his stay in office past
the traditional, constitutional presidential term limit.
Again, if
you would recall, a similar attempt to increase the presidential
term in office was made in Honduras by the then President Zelaya.
Fortunately, that effort
failed and is now history.
The
Zelaya ouster was a big political event.
The leaders of the Organization of American States (OAS),
like the AOU, had reacted quixotically to support Zelaya and to
impose him on the Honduran people.
But, the
Honduran Parliament, the army and the courts had resisted,
preferring the mandate of the constitution.
They saw Zelaya’s act as treasonable and criminal.
And have agreed to stick to the presidential term as one
of seven articles of the Honduran constitution that could not be
repealed or amended.
But in
Africa, the story is different. Constitutions can always be
reviewed, amended, and abrogated completely, all in the search
for power and control.
And the AU, by supporting Kandja, has agreed to this
bumpy ride to rule.
Africa
has always been an incubator for dictators, strongmen, and
empty-headed bullies who when they get into office think they
are the only ones fit for a rule.
No wonder
the colonials thought Africa, left to itself, could not be ruled
peacefully - a continent that is used to the longevity of the
big man in office and where acts of political bullies are always
non-events.
The AU,
as an organization, should be familiar with this perception.
It should because its membership of presidents has either
extended the term of office in their own countries or have the
ambition to do so sooner or later.
Just
recently, Gadhafi, against the very tradition of the AU, wanted
his term as AU chairman extended because he alone would be able
to do more in that seat in order to save Africa. Thankfully, his
ambition was thwarted.
The new
rulers in Niger - the Supreme Council for the Restoration of
Democracy – have announced their intention for a peaceful rule.
They have quickly lifted the curfew imposed immediately after
the coup. Hopefully, they will soon open the country for a
constitutional election for president who will observe his legal
constitutional term. This is the move the AU and the UN must
support.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher
www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, February 21, 2010
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