Niger Elects New President

One of the main streets in Arlit, the largest city in northern Niger (Wikimedia Commons).

Mohamed Bazoum was declared the winner in the Nigerien Presidential Election on February 23 with more than 55 percent of the total vote. While it was not Niger’s first democratic election, Monday’s election represented the first peaceful transfer of power in the country’s 60-year history.

Ever since Niger declared independence from France in 1959, conflict has precluded the establishment of a strong democratic government. There have been four successful coups, with the most recent being when Mamadou Tandja was overthrown in 2010 after refusing to step down from his second consecutive five-year term. Tandja was replaced by current Nigerien President and former Prime Minister Mahamadou Issoufou. 

During his presidency, Issoufou grappled with widespread security concerns, notably when conflict in the Sahel began to spill over the Nigerien border. In Niger’s southwest tri-border with Mali and Burkina Faso, rebel groups with connections to ISIS and al-Qaeda have repeatedly carried out attacks against Nigerien military and civilians. When polls opened on February 21, the small village of Dragol was rocked when a car carrying election officials struck a landmine, killing seven. Although the blast is still under investigation, the government is concerned that this attack may have been carried out by these terrorist cells. 

Issoufou’s decision to step down at the end of his second term came as a welcome surprise in a country where leaders have traditionally ignored the Constitution and opted to serve as president for life. He expressed hopes that his decision will assist the entrenchment of democratic values and institutions within the country.

In the first round of voting, President-elect Mohamed Bazoum, backed by Issoufou and head of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, was the clear favorite, securing 39.3 percent of the vote. Although Bazoum’s votes were the most out of any candidate, they were still not enough to win him the election. Consequently, a runoff took place between Bazoum and former President Mahamane Ousmane, who was removed via a coup in 1996, on February 22. 

When the Nigerien Election Commission published the official results, which showed Bazoum with 55.75 percent of the vote and Ousmane with the other 44.25 percent, Ousmane’s campaign issued a statement demanding “the immediate suspension of the publication of these results, which do not in any way take into account the expression of the Nigerien people for change.” Ousmane has claimed widespread election fraud and voter intimidation across the country, though without any evidence to support his claim. Regardless of merit, Ousmane’s supporters took to the streets of Niamey, burning cars and gathering outside the office of the rival party to protest the election. Although the crowd was quickly dispersed with tear gas, more protests are expected in the coming days. 

In the meantime, Bazoum issued a statement on Twitter, thanking the people of Niger for their confidence in him and promising “to be a loyal servant to [Niger] in dealing with all the problems facing our country.”