African Leaders Give Niger's Junta One Week to Cede Power

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Facts

  • West African countries have issued an ultimatum to Niger's new military leaders, reportedly threatening to take "all measures," including force, to restore constitutional order if toppled Pres. Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated within a week.1
  • The ultimatum comes as leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held emergency talks Sunday in Nigeria's capital Abuja to discuss the country's third coup, which followed army takeovers in Mali and Burkina Faso.2
  • This is the first time that ECOWAS had allegedly threatened military action to reverse the unconstitutional seizure of political power in the region since 2017 when troops were deployed to The Gambia to force a long-entrenched ruler to accept defeat in elections.3
  • Meanwhile, thousands of pro-junta demonstrators took to the streets on Sunday in Niger, filling the main thoroughfares in Niamey. Many protestors waving Russian flags attacked the French embassy, smashed windows, and set a perimeter door on fire, though they couldn't breach the compound's walls.4
  • Earlier, Niger's military junta claimed that the ECOWAS was planning to carry out an aggression against the country "in the form of an imminent military intervention in Niamey" in cooperation with non-ECOWAS countries and the West.5
  • Niger's junta has been under mounting international pressure since ousting Bazoum on Wednesday, with the US threatening economic sanctions and the EU announcing an immediate moratorium on financial and security assistance.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Wall Street Journal, 3BBC News, 4NBC, 5France 24, and 6Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by New York Times. The 15-nation ECOWAS echoed earlier calls by major allies of Niger, stressing its readiness to take swift action to restore democratic rule in a country that's vital to ensure regional security. Yet, the bloc will have to find the right balance to navigate its way out of this crisis without punishing citizens and pushing the junta into the hands of Russia or Wagner forces.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Foreign Policy Research Institute. ECOWAS is once again taking the risk of being seen as an illegitimate regional body as it fails to realize sanctions cause more suffering among ordinary citizens while not dissuading the coup leaders. Following its failures in addressing recent military takeovers in Burkina Faso and Mali, the bloc should have changed its policies and implemented measures for preventing coups in the first place.