Algeria proposes six-month plan for Niger’s return to civilian rule

A civilian power led by a consensus figure would oversee the transition process, according to Algiers’ proposal

A six-month transitional plan to restore constitutional and democratic order in Niger, following the seizure of power by that country’s military in a coup last month, was proposed on Tuesday by Ahmed Attaf, the Foreign Minister of neighboring Algeria.

The minister put forward the framework after a diplomatic tour of three West African countries, Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana, in an attempt to mediate a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Niamey and to avoid military intervention.

Niger’s military ruler, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, has been considering a three-year timeline to return the West African country to civilian rule.

Speaking at a press conference in his country’s capital, Algiers, and reported by AFP, Attaf said the coup leaders’ “transition period that would last a maximum of three years” can be “completed in six months.”

According to the senior diplomat, Algeria’s initiative comprises six points, including the development of “political arrangements with the acceptance of all parties in Niger without excluding any party” and within the proposed half-year period.

A “civilian power led by a consensus figure” would oversee the process, he added.

Last week, Algeria reportedly rejected a request from France to fly over its airspace for a military operation in Niger, while Paris denies even planning a strike to free deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

In Algiers, the government of Africa’s largest nation has repeatedly opposed a military intervention, an action which the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, backed by Paris, has threatened to launch in order to reinstate Bazoum.

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Algeria’s leader, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has previously stated that an armed response to the crisis in Niamey “could ignite the whole Sahel region.”

On Tuesday, his foreign minister reiterated the North African country’s rejection of the use of force against Niger’s military government, adding that Algiers would not allow its airspace to be used for such a mission.

Attaf believes that the option of a military intervention would have “catastrophic consequences” for the former French colony.

Meanwhile, in the Central African nation of Gabon, another former French colony, a group of soldiers declared a coup on Wednesday, detaining President Ali Bongo, who had just been declared the winner of a presidential election held last week.