Niger: Activists Vow to Fight Referendum Decision

In Niger, a leading civil rights activists is jailed as opposition to the president's referendum, extending his rule for another three years.
Niger's opposition continues to question the legitimacy of a referendum which allows President Mamadou Tandja to rule for three further years.

A leading civil rights activist, Morou Amadou was jailed on Monday (August 10) after he called for a general strike to bring down Tandja's administration, according to Judicial sources.

Before his arrest, Amadou said that despite the referendum, Nigeriens still oppose the changes in the constitution. He vowed they would fight against Tandjas dictatorship.

Opposition leaders, who urged voters to boycott the August 4th referendum, said final turnout was as little as five percent — far less than the 68 percent announced by authorities.

On Monday the European Union also voiced criticism over the legitimacy of the referendum, warning that the ties between the 27-nation E.U. and the Tandja administration could suffer.

Tidjiane Alou Mahamane, a political analyst, said the results of the referendum were known.

[Tidjiane Alou Mahamane, Political Analyst]:
"However, we still remain in an undeniable incertitude. It's an incertitude of the country's internal affairs, and how forces that were showing before the referendum, during the campaign, and again during the referendum, tugging their existence."

Defying international criticism and wide domestic protests, Tandja declared a landslide 92 percent victory in last week's plebiscite on constitutional changes enabling him to retain power in the uranium-producing Saharan state.

The E.U. Aid Commission raised the possibility that the existing framework due to govern political, trade and aid ties between the E.U. and Niger until 2020 would otherwise have to be renegotiated.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NTD
• Niger
• Activist
• Civil rights
• Mamadou Tandja
• Dicatorship
• European Union
• Uranium