The junta in Niger continues to defy all calls to reinstate the popularly elected President Mohamed Bazoum – and announces a new government.
During Thursday, the leaders of the neighboring countries will meet to discuss their response to the coup.
The military leaders in Niger announce that they have formed what they describe as a new government in the country. In a decree read out on television, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine is proclaimed the new prime minister.
The West African cooperation organization Ecowas previously threatened military intervention after the July 26 coup. But the deadline that had been set for the coup plotters to step aside expired on Monday night without any consequences.
Now Ecowas seems to prioritize the diplomatic track.
The risks of entering militarily in the fragile Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, have sparked debate among the member states and are said to be discussed in detail when they meet in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Thursday.
However, negotiations with the coup plotters have so far proved difficult. On Tuesday, plans to send a joint delegation from Ecowas, the United Nations and the African Union were rejected by the junta.
The following day, on Wednesday, however, an influential former provincial leader in Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, stated that he had spoken to the coup leader in Niger, Abdourahamane Tiani.
– We hope that our arrival will pave the way for real discussions between leaders in Niger and Nigeria, said Sanusi, who is close to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, in a television interview.
At the same time, the UN expresses concern about the condition of the 63-year-old Nigerian president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been detained since the coup.
In a statement, Secretary-General António Guterres condemns the “deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living in”.