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· The runoff election in Niger has ended peacefully and the candidates in the fray had cast their votes in their respective seats
· If everything goes smoothly, it will be the first democratic transfer of power in Niger since independence from France in 1960
· The runoff completes Niger’s three-month-long electoral cycle that kicked off in early December with local elections
The runoff election in Niger has ended peacefully and the candidates in the fray had cast their votes in their respective seats. Mahamane Ousmane, the opposition presidential candidate in Niger, cast his vote on Sunday (21 February) morning in Birni, a working-class neighborhood in his hometown of Zinder. Mohamed Bazoum, the anointed successor to Niger’s outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou, cast his ballot at the Niamey City Hall, his home constituency.
The runoff election is being held since no candidate could get 50% in the last election. If everything goes smoothly, it will be the first democratic transfer of power in Niger since independence from France in 1960.
The runoff completes Niger’s three-month-long electoral cycle that kicked off in early December with local elections. The most preferred candidate Bazoum had won 39.3% of the votes in the first round, while Ousmane got 17% of the votes cast. A few dozen observers from the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) are there to monitor the elections, the result of which is expected to come in a few days from now.
It is widely expected that Mohamed Bazoum may get the baton to rule the West African country riddled with many chronic problems. On a positive note, many political analysts opine that the peaceful elections in Niger would send the right signals across Africa how the democratic values can be upheld in a continent, which least is known for that going by the past trends.
