Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou rules out bid for third term

Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou has stated on Saturday that he would not amend the constitution to seek a third term after his second and last five-year legal term in 2021.

“One of my greatest ambitions is to organize free and transparent elections in 2021 and pass the baton over to another Nigerien whom the Nigeriens have chosen,” President Issoufou said in a television interview to commemorate the first anniversary of his second term.

The Nigerien Constitution limits the presidential mandate to two five-year terms. 65-year-old Issoufou was re-elected in March 2016 for another five years after his first term.

“I am a democrat at heart (…) I do not have the arrogance to think that I am an irreplaceable providential man,” said the head of state.

According to Issoufou “Niger needs strong democratic institutions” and for this, “there must be a democratic voice with alternations” in power.

If he succeeds, he will be the first democratically elected president of the country to ensure a peaceful transition of power in the country.

His predecessor, Mamadou Tandja, was overthrown in 2010 by a military coup for modifying the Constitution to remain in power at the end of its two five-year terms.