Dans les rues de Niamey, la capitale nigérienne (illustration)
Eight days after the overthrow of Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum, the West African Civil Society Forum (FOSCAO) calls for "a rapid return to civilian governance" through the "restoration of the Constitution and the rule of law." Foscao "strongly condemns any coup de force" and expresses its concern "in the face of repeated military coups in the region", according to a press release dated July 31, 2023 received by IMPACT.SN. Nevertheless, it calls on ECOWAS and its Western partners to rule out "any foreign military intervention (...) in a country already facing terrorist insecurity" in order to "encourage a peaceful solution among Nigeriens."
Analyzing the fall of President Bazoum, the Forum places it in the general context of the West African political arena. It is "symptomatic of a deep malaise", whose essential ills are "crisis of governance, endemic corruption, restriction of civic and political space" in the member states of the Cédéao.
This situation is aggravated by "the extreme politicization of the national armies, which should (however) remain republican", says the same source. In this respect, Foscao reminds the military that "the army is apolitical and subject to the duly established political authority", as stipulated by article 1(e) of the Ecowas Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
However, Foscao also calls on the responsibility of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government "for a drastic, inclusive and immediate improvement in democratic governance, the fight against corruption (and) the protection of human rights". At this level, civic and political space must remain open to political and civil society organizations, in the spirit of the "Cédéao des peuples" invoked in Vision-2050 of the Economic Community of West African States.
Translated with www.DeepL.com