General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the leader of the military junta that seized power in Niger in July, announced in a speech this weekend that he had ordered his offers to draft a detailed plan to transition towards democracy, vowing not to remain in power for more than three years.
Tchiani’s nationally televised address on Saturday followed a day of meetings between his coup conspirators and representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a Nigeria-led coalition of which Niger was a member before Tchiani, then the head of the presidential guard, ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26. ECOWAS has enthusiastically rejected the coup and threatened repeatedly to invade Niger and oust Tchiani’s “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.”
In response, the countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, also led by recently installed military coup juntas, claimed any attack on the Niger coup leaders would be “a declaration of war” against them as well — creating the potential for a world war and prompting ECOWAS to resume attempts at dialogue.
The “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland” organized the third coup attempt and the only successful one so far against Bazoum, who became president in 2021. As the fourth coup in the region against governments considered relatively friendly to the West — and in Burkina Faso and Mali, leading to the installment of military juntas favoring closer ties to Russia — Tchiani’s move alarmed the government of leftist President Joe Biden, which has repeatedly demanded the restoration of Bazoum’s administration to no avail.
Following negotiations with ECOWAS this weekend, however, Tchiani issued a 12-minute speech on national television vowing that the coup was aware of “the desire for true democracy” in the country and would not result in an indefinitely ruling dictatorship.
“For the people to choose their leaders, there must be a transparent system in which the opponents are not imprisoned or exiled, in which real transfer of power is possible and in which civil society can freely express themselves and demonstrate, without being worried,” Tchiani said, according to a transcript of his remarks published by the Nigerien website A Niamey.
He continued:
The massive support for the people for the [National Council] in Niger – as in our Malian, Burkinabè and Guinean brother countries, among others – reflected not the desire for autocratic governance, but a desire for true democracy that brings good for all. We are fully aware of this.
Tchiani announced that he had ordered his top officials to put together proposals within 30 days to “define the fundamental principles which should government our transition, to define the transition period, the duration of which cannot go beyond three years, to define national priorities,” and “to recall the fundamental values which should guide the re-foundation of the Republic.”
The coup leader stated his group would draft a new constitution for the country.
The coup leader did not specify how the transition to power would go or who the power would transition to. He did not mention the potential for elections, instead giving the appearance that the 30 days of deliberation for his team was intended to answer those questions.
Tchiani also threatened ECOWAS with the full force of the Nigerien military and the aid of the armies of Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali if it chooses a military intervention.
“If an assault were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park that some people want to believe,” he warned.
The remarks followed what appeared to be the first relatively successful talks between an ECOWAS delegation and the “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.” Tchiani had twice refused to meet with ECOWAS representatives in light of the hostility of their initial declaration regarding the coup.
In late July, ECOWAS published a statement giving Tchiani an ultimatum: give up power and restore Bazoum’s authority by August 6, one week after the declaration, or face a military invasion, presumably led by the largest ECOWAS member, Nigeria. The deadline came and went with no ECOWAS action; the Niger coup leaders closed the airspace around the country to prevent fighter jets from entering.
ECOWAS took the step of activating its standby force to ensure swift action of the head of the coalition, current Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who ordered an invasion. Abdel-Fatau Musa, the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, reiterated the group’s alleged ability to invade successfully in remarks on Saturday after the peace dialogue with Tchiani.
“We will see how discussions unfold. If we realize that discussions are going nowhere, I can assure you that we are not going to engage in endless dialogue [or] the dialogue of the deaf,” the Nigerian newspaper Leadership quoted Musa as saying.
Prior to the talks on Saturday, ECOWAS leaders claimed that they had agreed upon a “D-Day” deadline on which they would invade Niger if diplomacy fails but refused to name their date in public.
“We are ready to go any time the order is given. The D-day is also decided. We’ve already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention. As we speak, we are still readying [a] mediation mission into the country, so we have not shut any door,” Musa said prior to the talks.
The ECOWAS delegation in Niamey met with senior coup leaders, including Tchiani, and with Bazoum, who the coup leaders have kept in a state of house arrest at the presidential residence since their seizure of power.
“We met him (Bazoum) and heard his side of the story. He told us what was done to him and the challenges he is facing. We will communicate this to ECOWAS leaders. Doors for talks are now open for a lasting solution,” the head of the ECOWAS delegation, former Nigerian President General Abdulsalami Abubakar, told reporters.
On Sunday, following Tchiani’s speech, ECOWAS leaders rejected his three-year plan, in part on the grounds that the coup plotters had entirely ignored the initial August 6 ultimatum to restore Bazoum.
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