African governments are not well known for standing up against fellow leaders who violate the rule of law or commit human rights abuses. Ask most people what they expect from African governments in this area and you are likely not to hear anything positive. The reputation is not entirely undeserved, but is also the result of selective international coverage of African politics. Nonetheless, last week the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) made it clear that the rule of law does have importance in West Africa by refusing to recognize Mamadou Tandja as the president of Niger.
This is because Tandja, President of Niger since 1999, held a referendum in August that changed the constitution to allow him to stay in power for another three years without a vote and do away with term limits altogether. Some constitutional amendment are legal of course, though the articles setting term limits have a particular importance that most people would rather not alter, as seen earlier this year in Honduras. In the case of Niger, Tandja dissolved the parliament when it looked like they would block the referendum and then dissolved the Constitutional Court when it looked like they would proclaim the referendum unconstitutional. Doing so allowed the referendum to go ahead, but garnered criticism both at home and from abroad.
Back then ECOWAS expelled Niger from the organization, but that had little effect on events inside the country. So when Tandja’s second term expired on December 22, the organization released a statement stating that it no longer recognized Tandja as the rightful president of Niger since the referendum that allowed him to stay in power was illegal. According to the BBC, it is the first time that any inter-governmental organization has refused to recognize a sitting African head of state.
Of course the decision by ECOWAS not to recognize Tandja does little to change the situation in Niger. However as a landlocked state dependant on its ECOWAS neighbors to the south, Niger also cannot afford to ignore it completely. While municipal elections were held on Sunday in defiance of such criticism, Tandja has also re-engaged with the idea of negotiations with opposition leaders. Unfortunately, he also reactivated arrest warrants for three exiled opposition leaders, putting into doubt his sincerity with the negotiation process.
But while Niger is one of three African countries that the US has suspended aid to, it is the pressure from its African neighbors that Tandja is feeling. The situation illustrates the importance of regional organizations in upholding the rule of law and setting human rights standards as their influence is often more powerful than the influence of powerful states from far away. However, though this is an important step for ECOWAS, the story is not yet over. In order to truly take a stand, ECOWAS states will need to continue their resolve as the situation evolves.
