EU "worried" about political developments in Niger

The European Union (EU) said on Wednesday that it was "worried" about the latest developments in the political situation in the West African state of Niger after President Mamadou Tandja's decision to dismiss the 7 judges of the Constitutional Court.

The body is now deprived of its prerogatives of controlling the frequency and transparency of referendums and elections.

The EU said the decisions taken by President Tandja seriously called into question the basic elements of the Cotonou agreement, which could have direct repercussions on cooperation with Niger.

In a communiqué made available to the press in Brussels, the EU said democratic institutions and the Constitutional Court must be in a position to play their roles as guarantors of the rules and their rulings must be respected to the letter by everybody.

President Tandja assumed special powers under Article 53 of Niger's Constitution and decided to organise a referendum on 4 August that will allow his term of office to be extended by 3 years after his second and final term expires.

The current constitution, which dates back to 1999, bans any amendment to the term of office of the President of the Republic.

Last May, President Tandja dissolved the national assembly which opposed the draft amendments of the constitution.

Brussels - 01/07/2009

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Former Guinea Prime Minister released

Former Guinea Prime Minis ter Dr Ahmed Tidiane Soumare was released on Wednesday morning after being detained for a few hours at Peleton Mobile 3 (PM3), a garrison of the gendarmerie in Conakry, according to his immediate family.

The former head of the “broad-based” government under the late President Lansana Conte had been arraigned on Tuesday evening and taken to PM3 as he failed to keep his commitments of making a monthly payment for US$200,000 as promised when he was first arraigned last March.

His close relatives did not want to elaborate on the circumstances of the release of Dr Souare, also a former Minister of Mines (2005-2006). He was accused of misappropriating US$2.0 million taken from the Mine Funds at the Mine Department and meant to pay for study and research fees, office equipment and purchase of cars.

The former Prime Minister, who admitted the allegations at a televised debate led by the chief of the junta Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was jailed, but later released after promising to pay off all the funds that disappeared.

Besides, his colleague Dr Ousmane Sylla, another former Mines Minister who was also released, after being accused of stealing about US$1.5 million from the Mine Funds, had also pledged to make monthly payments of US$200,000 that he owed.

However, another former Minister of Mines, Ahmed Kante, who refused to “collaborate” and did not admit to any misappropriation, as was affirmed by the Minister of Justice Colonel Siba Lolamou, has been in jail since last March.

Conakry - 02/07/2009

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Gabonese politicians to fix presidential election date

Gabonese political party leaders and the Minister of Interior and Local Authority, Jean François Ndougou, meeting here on Thursday, are expected to come out with a date for the country's presidential election, official sources told PANA.

According to Gabonese constitution, elections should be held 45 days after the a cting president, who must be chairman of the senate, is sworn in following the death of a president.

PANA recalls that the Gabonese Senate Chairman, Rose Rogombe, was sworn into off ice as acting president following the death of President Omar Bongo Ondimba on 8 June.

According to the sources, Gabonese political class is, however, considering the 45-day period too short to hold a free and fair presidential election.

Under the supervision of the Interior Ministry, elections are usually held only after the voters' register is revised, and displayed for possible objections and claims. These claims and objections must be resolved before actual voting will take place.

Libreville - 02/07/2009

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Ex-premier's party sceptical about Guinean polls

An official of Guinea's Party for Hope and National Development (PEDN), Sekou Diawara, said in Paris, France, on Thursday that it was "rather unlikely" for general elections to be held in 2009 in his country, noting that 70 per cent of the voters's register were yet to be updated.

"This is no secret: conditions have yet to be fulfilled for free and fair elections in 2009 in Guinea," Diawara, the Secretary for Political Affairs of the France-based Federation of PEDN, a political party founded by former Guinean Premier, Lansana Kouyaté, said during an interview with PANA.

"In addition to the fact that 70 per cent of the register are not updated, there are also logistic obstacles and the challenge for funding these elections," said the politician, envisaging an extension of the military transitional period.

The National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), led by the ruling jun ta, bowing to international pressure, agreed to organise legislative and presidential polls in the country before the end of 2009.

"To me, it is unlikely to meet this deadline. In any case, PEDN is ready to go for elections, even if they were scheduled for next week," Diawara stressed.

He said Kouyaté's achievements when he served as the country's Prime-Minister made him a "naturally" favourite candidate for the next presidential elections.

"When Kouyaté held the position of prime minister, he gained the stature of a great statesman, as he showed his worth in the management of public affairs, including the construction of new roads, public electrification in Conakry and the use of solar energy.

"He is therefore a valuable contender for the next presidential polls," Diawara added.

Paris - 25/06/2009

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Niger opposition slams presidential 'coup'

Opponents of Niger's President Mamadou Tandja on Saturday slammed his assumption of emergency powers as a coup d'etat, calling on the army not to obey him and urging international powers to intervene.

The Front for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), a grouping of opposition parties, "condemns the coup d'etat which President Tandja has carried out and calls on everyone to mobilise to prevent by all legal means this attempt to eliminate the rule of law and democracy," FDD head Mahamadou Issoufou said.

He called on "the security and defence forces to refuse to obey the orders of a man who has made the deliberate choice of violating the constitution and who has now forfeited all political and moral legitimacy."

The FDD also urged the international community to "take all possible measures to restore a state of legality and democracy."

Tandja, a 71-year-old retired colonel, acted late Friday after a failed bid to prolong his stay in office by changing the constitution to allow him to run for a third term in elections due at the end of this year.

He said in a television address that he was invoking "article 58 of the constitution" giving him special powers "because the independence of the country is threatened."

Tandja defeated Issoufou in the 1999 and 2004 presidential elections and was due to step down at the end of this year.

"We are at an institutional impasse, which justified the president's address to the nation.... He cannot accept that Niger is blocked by an act of sabotage," Communications Minister Mohammed Ben Omar said on Friday.

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African Union lifts sanctions against Mauritania

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union has lifted sanctions on Mauritania because of steps it is taking to restore democracy this month, the body said in a statement on Wednesday.

The African Union suspended Mauritania after the army overthrew the elected president in August last year and imposed visa and travel bans on members of the junta and its supporters.

But an election is due on July 18 under a transition administration agreed on by the junta and the civilian opposition in the iron ore-producing northwest African country of 3 million.

The African Union's Peace and Security Committee said the decision to lift the measures against Mauritania was taken at a meeting on Monday.

It said it would keep watching the situation in Mauritania to make sure it stayed on track and in case other measures needed to be taken, potentially including the re-imposition of sanctions.

Under an agreement that took effect last month, a transition government was set up to allow a presidential election on July 18 in which junta leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and the opposition will take part.

Mauritania's neighbours were concerned the military takeover could set a precedent in a region that had begun to shed its reputation for coups.

The African Union also imposed sanctions on Guinea after the military took over following the death of the veteran president last December. African countries are concerned Guinea's junta may not keep plans to hold free elections this year.

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Junta head denounces resumption of political activities in Guinea

The head of the ruling junta in Guinea, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, on Friday condemned a statement that announced the resumption of political and trade unions activities in the country.

Camara described as "null and void" the text read on Thursday evening on the Guinean Radio and Television Broadcaster (RTG) by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Dr. Frederi Kolié, which lifted the seal on political party activities.

According to a statement by the press office of the Guinean Presidency, read during a news programme broadcast at mid-day Thursday, the announcement of the resumption of political activities was issued on the orders of the country's Premier, Kabiné Komara.

"This statement, which was not endorsed by the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), is likely to undermine social peace and the democratic process in Guinea," said the head of the ruling junta, who ordered members of CNDD and the government to stop issuing statements without his consent.

Thursday's statement said political parties and trade unions should resume their activities throughout the country, but prohibited electioneering campaigns.

Camara had decided, shortly after the 23 December coup, to suspend political and trade union activities to "avoid chaos and disorder."

The leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), Cellou Dalein Diallo, and his motorcade were prevented on 18 June from holding a meeting in Kérouané, about 900 km from Conakry, before they were banned from entering the eastern town of Kankan where they wanted to spend the night.

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