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West Africa

ECOWAS rejects three-year transition period by Niger’s coup leaders

August 25, 2023

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(3 minutes read)

As the West African bloc, ECOWAS, rejected the proposal by Niger’s mutinous soldiers for a three-year transition to democratic rule, a solution to the vexatious issue is evading

As the West African bloc, ECOWAS, rejected the proposal by Niger’s mutinous soldiers for a three-year transition to democratic rule, a solution to the vexatious issue is evading. In a media interview, the bloc’s commissioner for peace and security Abdel-Fatau Musah said the proposal put forward by the military junta was unacceptable. The door for diplomacy with Niger’s junta remained open, he asserted, but the bloc was not going to engage in futile long – drawn-out talks that lead nowhere.

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The ECOWAS feels that the coup in Niger would have a domino effect and every effort should be taken to stop that trend. Mali and Burkina Faso faced the coup and the civilian rule has been delayed citing one reason or the other. He also mentioned that backroom negotiations are continuing, but a diplomatic solution was still evading.

An ECOWAS delegation met the head of Niger’s military regime, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, for the first time since the mutinous soldiers ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in July. Musah said the ball was now in the junta’s court. The junta has been keeping Bazoum and his wife and son under house arrest. ECOWAS has demanded Bazoum be freed and constitutional order restored.

The Niger coup has come as a red alert to ECOWAS as the region is susceptible to such political instability. Mali and Burkina Faso have faced two coups since 2020. The bloc has imposed severe economic and travel sanctions and threatened the use of military force if Bazoum was not reinstated. But the junta is not relenting. It has appointed a new government and said it will return the country to democratic rule within several years.

The 2023 Global Terrorism Index estimated that Sahel accounted for 43% of global terrorism deaths in 2022. With 8,564 victims, Burkina Faso ranked 2nd just behind Afghanistan. Somalia, Mali, and Syria occupied the 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively. Next came Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Burma, and Niger according to the document. France and the U.S. have some 2,500 military personnel in the country and the U.S. operates two key drone and counter-terror bases.