NIGER MILITARY COUP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NIGER MILITARY COUP - Essay Example This paper will critically discuss military coups as way of seizing power, using the Niger’s case as an example. Niger Military Coup Military coups as earlier stated, have been considered especially in most of the African countries among them Niger, as the only way of getting corrupt leaders in the government to vacate their offices once diplomacy has failed (Onwumechili 17). This is due to the fact that these leaders in most cases interfere with their constitutions, with some using their powers to amend certain acts in order to prolong their terms. Some of them even refuse to vacate their offices after they are defeated in presidential elections, for example with the case of Ivory Coast. The president, despite having lost the election to his opponent Outtara, has continued to cling to power instead of handing over the presidency peacefully. As for now, diplomatic talks mediated by eminent persons are going on and there is a possibility of military action against him if the ta lks fail to produce viable results (Harwood 59). This is an example of how tensions start building up and when they accumulate, military action becomes unavoidable especially where such leaders have been described as the major cause of suffering for the citizens and an obstacle to development. In Niger for example, the former president, Mamadou Tandja had been in power for 10 years, which is the maximum period that a president is allowed to rule in the country, after which he is required to retire. However, towards the end of his second term, he brought about a constitutional reform, which was meant to give him the leeway to run for another term, and which did not go down well with majority of the citizens and legislators. He planned a national referendum to extend his term but according to sources, the opposition boycotted this process whereas the national assembly refused to grant his wishes. In return, Tandja dissolved the parliament as well as the constitutional court for ruling against his intentions. Interestingly, he went ahead to conduct the referendum in which the opposition did not participate and declared the results in favor of his bid for a third term (Africa Research Bulletin 205). This is a sign of a leader who was bent to interfere with all organs of government regardless of the principle of separation of powers between the executive, legislature and the judiciary, which are supposed to function independently without one influencing the other. In this aspect, the president can be termed as an authoritarian, who, with the current growth of democracies around the world, should not be allowed to hold executive powers. The action prompted the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to sanction the country by excluding it from the organization’s trading activities (Africa Research Bulletin 207). Such an action against a country means that the level of foreign income earned from exports to member countries goes down hence the rise o f poverty levels among citizens. In addition, despite the country being rich in minerals such as Uranium, citizens have continued to suffer abject poverty while his council of ministers and close family members and friends continued to enrich themselves with tax payer’s money. As a result of such corruption and nepotism through out his rule, Niger’s economy has continued to deteriorate and the effect is that