As the power play in Niger Republic continues following the ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has rejected Niger junta’s three-year power transition plan.
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musa, said the proposal was untenable as it was a smokescreen for dialogue and diplomacy.
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, leader of the Niger junta, had said in a televised broadcast on Saturday night that the army will hand over power to the civilian government within the next three years.
Also, on Saturday, former Military Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), led a delegation of the ECOWAS to Niger in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to reach a peaceful solution with the Niger junta.
The delegation met with Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine who received them at the airport and led them to the presidential palace.
They later met with the ousted Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum, after meeting General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of the junta.
It was the first peace talk led by Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar that ECOWAS activated its standby force.
It said Niger junta had ignored the ultimatum to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum.
The ECOWAS rejection coincided with a demonstration by thousands of people in the capital, Niamey, on Sunday in support of last month’s military coup, whose leader has warned against outside intervention while proposing a three-year transition of power.
The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power France and the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum if negotiations with coup leaders fail.
The Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned demonstrations but in practice, those in support of the coup are permitted.
The demonstrators waved placards saying “Stop the military intervention” and “No to sanctions”, a reference to cuts in financial aid and trade restrictions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since the July 26 coup.
