Niger enacts new electoral law

The Nigerien Parliament has adopted a new electoral code in the absence of opposition MPs.

The text was unanimously validated by the 133 elected members of the ruling majority, while their opposition colleagues staged a boycott after tabling a motion of censure against the government.

Their main worry is that Article 8 of the Electoral Code makes it impossible for exiled opposition leader Hama Amadou to participate in the 2021 presidential elections.

Issoufou Issaka, President of the opposition parliamentary group MODEN LOUMANA AFRICA, said, “what we reproach this code for is essentially at the level of four articles. Article 8 which has not been affected. Let me remind you that a previous review that was accepted in 2017 at the level of Article 8 brought ineligibility in terms of a 3-year sentence. They came back there disappointed to bring it back to 1 year.”

Members of the opposition have refused to impose what they call masquerade after majority deputies voted on an amendment to the electoral code on Monday behind closed doors.

The First Vice-President of the National Assembly, Iro Sani said, “the National Assembly is a forum for debate. If you have arguments, if you are convincing, you come to the National Assembly to develop your arguments and convince the MPs to vote in favour of your position. The absence of the opposition from the debate simply means that it has no argument, no convincing explanation for its position. meaning it is simply desperate, desperate.”

The new electoral code is a cardinal text for Niger’s political future.

The country is expected to vote a new head of state in 2021, after President Mahamadou Issoufou said he will not amend the Constitution to run for a third term.