Algeria offered the soldiers who took power in Niger “a six-month transition plan” before a return to constitutional and democratic order, instead of the three years they suggested, said its head of government. diplomacy on Tuesday. Niger’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani, called for “a transition period that would last a maximum of three years”, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf recalled during a press conference in Algiers. “But in our opinion, the process can be completed in six months, so that the (ongoing) coup does not become a ‘fait accompli’,” he added.
Ahmed Attaf had just returned from a tour of three ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries: Nigeria, Benin and Ghana. The number two in his ministry, Lounes Magramane, had traveled to Niamey at the same time, where he was able to meet with Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine. But he did not meet ousted President Mohamed Bazoum there, said Ahmed Attaf. The head of diplomacy did not specify whether Mohamed Bazoum would be part of the transition plan proposed by Algeria or not.
“This coup d’état must be the last in Niger and in Africa” Algiers proposes political discussions “for a maximum of six months (…) with the participation and approval of all parties in Niger without exclusion”, under the supervision of a “civil authority led by a consensual personality and accepted by all sides of the political class”, in order to lead to the “reestablishment of constitutional order in the country”, according to Ahmed Attaf.
