After taking power
US diplomat meets putschists in Niger – military junta appoints new prime minister
Major-Colonel Amadou Adramane (2nd from right) is greeted by supporters upon his arrival at General Seyni Kountché Stadium in the capital Niamey. Tens of thousands of people reportedly gathered here on Sunday to protest the Ecowas sanctions
© AFP
Almost two weeks after the military took power in Niger, the putschists have named a prime minister. Meanwhile, the US relies on diplomacy and sends top diplomat Nuland to the new rulers. She couldn’t achieve much.
The top US diplomat Victoria Nuland has met with leaders of the military junta in Niger. Nuland then spoke of a “difficult” conversation. Almost two weeks after the military took power in the West African country, the putschists have named a prime minister.
US diplomat meets putschists in Niger: “very open and sometimes quite difficult”
“I hope that they will keep the door open to diplomacy,” she said, referring to the putschists. “We made this suggestion.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told French broadcaster RFI that diplomacy is the preferred way to resolve the situation. That is the approach of Ecowas. “That’s also our approach,” emphasized Blinken.
Nuland also pointed out to the military the consequences for relations with the United States if democratic order is not restored. She pointed out that aid to Niger had already been frozen.
Military junta appoints economist Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as new prime minister
On July 26, officers of the Presidential Guard in Niger ousted the democratically elected President Bazoum. The commander of the elite unit, Abdourahamane Tiani, subsequently proclaimed himself the new ruler. Shortly after Tiani came to power, the putschists suspended the constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions. Under Bazoum, Niger was one of the West’s last strategic partners in the fight against the advance of Islamist terrorists in the Sahel.
In a statement read on television late Monday night, a spokesman for the military junta named economist Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as the new prime minister. Lamine Zeine used to be Economics and Finance Minister in the cabinet of ex-President Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted in 2010, and most recently worked as an economist for the African Development Bank in Chad, according to a Nigerien media report.
According to experts: West African community of states Ecowas has no interest in military intervention
It is also unclear how the West African community of states Ecowas will proceed against the putschists. An ultimatum from Ecowas to reinstate Bazoum expired over the weekend. The alliance had threatened measures that could include violence. The heads of state and government of the Ecowas member states want to discuss the situation in Niger on Thursday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
According to Africa experts, Ecowas, despite its threats, has no interest in military action against the putschists in Niger. “I would be surprised if we see any intervention at all. It is not in the interest of any West African state to wage a war against Niger,” Africa analyst Ben Hunter from the British security consultancy Verisk Maplecroft told the German Press Agency. The Ecowas planners had also seen military interventions in other parts of the world how difficult and expensive such undertakings could be. States had hoped that the mere threat would have an effect.
Sahel expert Ulf Laessing from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation also considers the conditions for a military strike to be unfavorable. “I don’t think there will be a war. Ecowas have too few skills and no task force,” said Laessing of the dpa. The element of surprise is now over. “To do such an operation would be very risky and the chance of it going wrong is very high – and the question is what comes after that.” He thinks it is more likely that an agreement will be reached with the putschists on early new elections.