TRADE BLOC SUSPENDS NIGER
Oct 21st, 2009 by admin
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the region’s trade bloc, suspended Niger from the group yesterday in response to the country’s controversial parliamentary elections on Monday. Niger’s opposition boycotted the voting claiming it would allow President Mamadou Tandja to harden his grip on power. ECOWAS had called on Tandja to postpone the elections and decided to suspend Niger after he rejected the appeal for dialogue with the opposition. The country has been in a political crisis since a disputed referendum, passed in August, which allowed Tandja to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limit. He has been elected twice since 1999 and his term was supposed to end next December. Tandja argues the people of Niger want him to stay in office.
