Niger vote marks country's first peaceful transfer of power

Robert Besser
23 Feb 2021, 09:54 GMT+10

Voters went to the polls today in the second round of presidential elections, promising the first peaceful transfer of power.
Mohamed Bazoum, the ruling party candidate, is expected to defeat former President Mahamane Ousmane.
In the first round of elections on December 27, Bazoum received 39 percent of the vote.

NIAMEY, Niger, February 21: Voters went to the polls on the weekend in the second round of presidential elections, promising the country's first peaceful transfer of power.

Mohamed Bazoum, the ruling party candidate, is expected to defeat former President Mahamane Ousmane.

In the first round of elections on December 27, Bazoum received 39 percent of the vote, while Ousmane's vote total reached 17 percent.

Bazoum, a former interior and foreign minister, is now backed by the candidates who came in third and fourth in December voting.

The 71 year-old Ousmane was Niger's first democratically elected president, but was deposed during a 1996 military coup.

There have been four military coups since Niger, a former French colony, gained independence in 1960.

The 61 year-old Bazoum has said he would continue Issoufou's policies, seeking to boost the economy, even as Niger battles insurgents.

Hundreds have been killed by Boko Haram along Niger's western border, as well as by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants, who have murdered civilians.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries, which currently is battling droughts, coronavirus and weak prices for the minerals it exports.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to New York Statesman.

More Information

32 ℉

Fair in New York/Battery

US Editorials

Section

NATO 2030 commits members to war with Russia and China

The February meeting of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Defense Ministers, the first since President Biden took power, revealed an ...

Here's Why the People Who Pick Our Food Are Going Hungry During Covid

LAKE WORTH, FLA. Hundreds of familiesmany of them poor farmworkers, jobless during the Covid-19 pandemicgathered in the parking lot of ...

With Minimum Wage Victory in Reach, The Fight for $15 Vows Bigger Things to Come

After nearly a decade of activism, the Fight for $15 stands closer than ever to achieving its most visible goal: ...

How the Deep Roots of Farm Labor Solidarity Helped Wisconsin Survive the Pandemic

When Covid-19 forced Wisconsin to shut down in late March last year, supply shocks to the agricultural industry delivered a ...

A Recipe for Making Change in Biden's Washington

Since President-elect Joseph Biden clinched the Democratic nomination, progressive analysts have generated a rich literature on how he should govern. ...