Democracy Under Threat in Niger
blurb:isstoday:030209niger
03 February 2009: Democracy Under Threat in Niger
For several months now a political debate has been raging in Niger – a debate no one really knows yet where it will lead. While President Mamadou Tandja is serving the last few months of his second and last term, certain groups have emerged asking for a change to the Constitutional mandate of the President, permitting Tandja to stand elected for a third term, or, if not, to simply prolong his present tenure in Niger. Those leading this campaign are in fact almost openly planning to take the State and its recently discovered mineral resources “hostage” and to take advantage of the lucrative contracts recently signed with foreign companies. Meanwhile, the President is silent – a silence some would certainly qualify as a sign of complicity. Silence is indeed a form of consent.
The debate about revising the Constitution – just like the one about the armed conflict in the North of Niger – polarizes the political class and the society at large. Many citizens see these opportunistic constitutional amendments as a serious threat to the strengthening of the democratic process. Right or wrong, these attempts have worked in at least a dozen countries in Africa, and have failed in many others. In neighbouring Nigeria, for example, the senate rejected the attempts at a Constitutional amendment introduced by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, following social and political mobilization. Despite these successes, it is important to note that most African constitutions are still weak when it comes to guaranteeing the consolidation of democracy.
As was noted by participants in a conference in Polokwane, South Africa, in May 2008 entitled “The Constitutions of Southern Africa” the way constitutions have been written and adopted rightly gave the impression to citizens that it is truly a collective work, drawing together all the segments of the society. Furthermore, many truly believed that those compromises formalized in the Constitution were to a large extent intangible. This intangibility would ensure its durability across time and protect it from the whims of mere individuals. Everything was done as if the declared supremacy of the Constitution was enough to guarantee the longevity of the new democratic systems instituted in most of the countries and of the values they embody. However, political manipulation ended up by stripping the constitutions of their substance.
Following decades of one-party states and dictatorships, the constitution of Niger, like most African constitutions, determine and limit the presidential mandate to a maximum of two terms. Even if mechanisms were built in to make any change to the Constitution particularly difficult (4/5 of the national parliament has to vote in favour or it should be consented to through a referendum according to art. 135), the Constitution of Niger also thought fit to build in special provisions regarding the Presidential mandate (art.36) that cannot be modified at all (art. 136). Article 136 clearly stipulates that “the Republican State, the multi-party system, the principle of separation of State and religion and the provisions of articles 36 (presidential mandate) and 141 (the Amnesty for those responsible for the 1995 and 1999 Coups d’Etat) of the present constitution can not be the object of any revision.” The question is whether President Tandja will be able to see the signs of the times and leave politics like the former Ghanean President John Kufuor at the end of his mandate? Or will he compromise the still fragile democratic process, susceptible to plunge the country into a new political crisis justifying a military intervention?
It is evident that, despite notable progress since 1990, the democratic process in Niger still face huge obstacles. It is the first time that an elected president completes two mandates as Head of State since the political transition of the 1990’s. This process has been interrupted at least twice by military coups in 1995 and 1999, each time following a constitutional crisis. Already, opposition parties and civil society organisations are clearly demonstrating their opposition to the amendment plan, unleashing reprisals from the regime. A good number of them have already become the target of judicial action, some being accused of corruption and embezzling of state funds. The presidential camp itself lacks coherence: it is divided and weakened by succession quarrels. The balance of power is thus not in favour of President Tandja and a timely statement about this issue would dissipate the concerns of his fellow citizens.
In the midst of a rebellion in the North, which the authorities are struggling to contain and a political crisis, provoked by an opportunistic plan to change the constitution, those in power in Niger should facilitate a peaceful transition at the helm – this through free and transparent elections, as stipulated in the Constitution, before the end of 2009.
Beyond issues relating to the personality of the present Head of State, this offers a much better guarantee for stability and social cohesion. Also, it is here that an early warning system of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) or the institutions of the African Union, are indispensable.
Often, it is only after the military coups that we witness an avalanche of criticism, not always very sincere. We have in fact very rarely seen preemptive action against the political manipulation and other wrongdoings that often leads a country to political violence and costly armed conflicts. Meanwhile all the regional instruments, including the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Lomé Declaration are clear about all amendments or revision of the constitution that are contrary to the norms of democratic political transition.
The African Charter goes even further stating that any amendment to the Constitution that is contrary to the previously agreed-to democratic consensus is a coup de force (Art 23.5). It is important to state that preventative action will prevent a great number of military interventions that initially promises democracy and good governance, but ends up undermining the authority of regional organisations and leaves the country unstable.
It is clear, that a peaceful political transition will contribute to the moral authority of President Tandja, as a former President. Individuals like these are sorely needed in a West African region facing a plethora of security challenges. It is imperative that the regional and sub-regional institutions focus their sustained attention on these tendencies that deny citizens their basic right to participate in the choice of leaders and which offers the military a pretext of carrying out a coup de force, which they might think is salutary, if it doesn’t lead the country to the path of civil war.
David Zounmenou, Senior Researcher, African Security Analysis Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)
