Niger: Mohamed Bazoum's investiture ceremony placed under high security
The ruling party's candidate, Mohamed Bazoum, was elected president of Niger.
(illustrative image) AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO
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The investiture of Mohamed Bazoum comes in a tense context, while his election is still contested by the opposition, that an attempted coup d'état failed on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday and that the country has experienced these fifteen last days the deadliest terrorist attacks in recent years
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It is this Friday in Niamey that will be invested the new democratically elected president of Niger Bazoum Mohamed.
An investiture under high security and political tension, never equaled in Niger.
In view of the latest events, security is essential with an impressive system of the Presidential Guard, the police and the National Guard, around the Mahatma Gandhi conference center, place of investiture of the new head of state.
According to the protocol services, 13 heads of state are expected in Niamey.
Also, to prevent any traffic jam in the city center, the municipality is warning road users that traffic will be severely disrupted on the axis from the airport to the city center, via the expressway, the Palais des Congrès. , to the presidential villas of the Council of the Entente.
On the perimeter of the first bridge and the second interchange, traffic will be completely closed to users.
The three crises of Mohamed Bazoum
Today's ceremony is historic in more than one way according to observers, in that it enshrines the democratic alternation in Niger.
This is the first time in 60 years of independence that an elected president has passed the torch to another democratically elected.
Barely installed in his chair as president, Mohamed Bazoum will have to manage three major crises.
First political, since the opposition presidential candidate, Mahamane Ousmane continues to proclaim his victory.
A situation that could permanently poison the political life of the country.
Already on March 25, the 53 opposition MPs boycotted the first parliamentary session.
Then, Niger has experienced an unprecedented outbreak of violence in recent weeks.
More than 200 civilians were massacred in two terrorist attacks in the regions of Tillabéry and Tahoua.
A major challenge for Mohamed Bazoum who was the architect of Nigerien security policy under the presidency of Mahamadou Issoufou.
The attempted putsch, a "farce" for the opposition
Finally comes the military question.
The coup attempt
at dawn on Wednesday brought back old memories.
Since its independence, Niger has already experienced four putschs.
"
In the history of the country, as soon as there was instability, the army was tempted to intervene,"
explains Abdoul Karim Saidou, a Nigerien political scientist.
The blocking of the political game, the opposition's connections with the army, corruption scandals and growing insecurity could generate a stir in the ranks,
”concludes the professor-researcher at Thomas Sankara University in Ouagadougou.
Today the reactions of the Nigerien political class to this attempted putsch are divided.
On the side of the majority, the condemnation is unanimous.
Military coups d'état, Niger has had enough.
Four, therefore, have succeeded since independence.
The last dates back to 2010, marking the end of the Mahamadou Tandja era.
For Maître Saley Djibrillou, secretary general of the MNSD, the country has moved on: “
It is a regression for a country which aspires to the stability of democratic institutions.
The army must understand that we are no longer in this phase where captains or I do not know who intervene to question the sovereign choice of the people.
"
In a press release published yesterday, the Cap 20/21 coalition, which supports the candidacy of the opponent Mahamane Ousmane, considers this attempt as a "
farce
" orchestrated by the authorities.
The objective would be to divert the attention of Nigeriens from the electoral contest.
“
We had organized
marches
the morning this all happened.
This is just one more diversion, as the regime has always had to do.
We stress that we do not want this to be yet another opportunity to make arbitrary arrests as has been the case each time,
”explains Kadaouré Habibou, president of the Cap 20/21 Coordination Committee.
►
To read also:
Mahamane Ousmane, in Niger: "I continue to reject the decision of the Constitutional Court"
Cap 20/21 calls for the establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate this attempted coup.
The outgoing President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou sent his last speech on national radio and television to his compatriots last night.
After thanking them for the trust his people have placed in him over the past ten years, he spoke for the first time about the attempted coup:
It is undoubtedly a desperate attempt to take power back from the hands of those who conquered it at the ballot box.
Unfortunately, there is within them a compact minority of putschists who raise the flag against the law, who claim arbitration over the sovereign people ... These criminals, and their internal and external sponsors will be sought, identified and punished, in accordance with to the law
Mahamadou Issoufou
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Niger
Mohamed Bazoum