Post-election violence, terrorist groups, economic problems… President Mohamed Bazoum, just barely elected, faces many challenges. Will he be up to it?
Post-election unrest in Niger was brutal: two demonstrators were killed and nearly 21 people arrested, including activists and politicians. The second round of the ballot on February XNUMX was the opportunity to turn a new page after a last successful mandate of Mahamadou Issoufou. That of Mohamed Bazoum starts badly.
Hama Amadou by opposing number 1
Nigerien Interior Minister Alkache Alhada accused one of the most popular opposition figures, Hama Amadou, of wanting to usurp power by putting "Niger on fire and blood". The government has since pledged to arrest and prosecute Amadou. The latter, indicates the Nigerien state, is accused of murders, violence, racist remarks and xenophobia.
Amadou, former Prime Minister and President of the Assembly, was unable to run for president due to a one-year prison sentence in 2017 for child trafficking. He always shouted to whoever wants to hear him that this affair was fabricated by the executive power. Amadou supported the opposition candidate, Mahamane Ousmane, in the second round of the presidential election last Sunday.
Violence erupted on Tuesday, after the electoral commission said Bazoum victorious with 55% of the votes against 44% for Ousmane.
The 71-year-old Ousmane was ousted in 1993, three years after winning what was considered the first democratic transition in Niger since its independence in 1960. Since then, he has stood for election five times, without success.
The 60-year-old new president, Mohamed Bazoum, was the interior minister and close advisor to outgoing president Mahamadou Issoufou. In 1990, the two founded the Nigerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).
The possibility of a peaceful solution?
After a disappearance for several days, the main instigator of the post-election violence, Hama Amadou, surrendered to the police on Friday. He was accompanied by his lawyer Boubacar Mossi, who attended the interrogation and addressed the press, criticizing the new president and his PNDS party.
ECOWAS and the UN have called on the various parties behind the violence in Niger "to resort to legal means to settle any dispute". They condemned the acts of violence.
Democracy in Niger is as fragile as that of all the states in the region. But the country also has to deal with a stifling security issue, with three terrorist organizations attacking the country from the north and west. Political peace and an end to violence will be imperative for Niger to secure its borders.