The dialogue which started on Monday between the ruling party and the opposition in Niger, with a view to settling the political crisis from the extension of Mamadou Tandja’s term of office, has been interrupted on Wednesday, with the withdrawal of the presidential side, to protest against a statement issued by the ECOWAS indicating that it did not recognize Mamadou Tandja, whose term of office legally ended on 22 November, according to ECOWAS.
In a statement published in the media, one of the officials from the Patriotic Movement for the Republic (close to President Tandja), Nouhou Mahamadou Arzika, said that their delegation has withdrawn from negotiations.
“At the moment when we are trying to find a way out of this situation, ECOWAS issued a statement to say that it does not recognize President Mamadou Tandja,” he said.
Mr. Arzika referred to a statement by the regional organization which noted last Tuesday that the head of state’s mandate “ended legally”, because he was supposed to leave power on 22 December, the date on which expires his second and last five-year term.
“We have taken on the responsibility to withdraw (…) as a result, we suspend our participation in this dialogue,” he said.
Both the government and the opposition are divided since the adoption back in August by President Tandja, a 71 year-old former Colonel, through a controversial referendum of a new Constitution which extends for three years his presidential mandate.
Twice elected in 1999 and 2004, Mamadou Tandja was supposed to leave power on 22 December, at the end of his second and last five-year term of office, according to the provisions of the August 1999 Constitution, by means of which he had led the country.
Source African Press Agency
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