The situation in Niger is hotting up. As posted previously, President Mamadou Tandja announced that he would hold a referendum on a new constitution that would allow him to stand again for election. Indeed, this seemed to be whole purpose of the initiative.

On Monday the Constitutional Court of Niger declared that the president’s initiative would be unconstitutional. Jeune Afrique reports that the decision was based on the Court’s interpretation of Art. 49 of the constitution. This Article states that the president can submit any text to the people with the exception of any revision that is governed by Title XII of the constitution. As reported in the previous post, Title XII expressly forbids any amendment of Art. 36, one element of which relates to term limits. Slightly confusingly, Jeune Afrique reports the Court as saying that Art. 49 does not allow the president to propose a referendum on something that will affect the foundation of the constitution. This is not what Art. 49 states. Presumably, details will become available fairly soon.

In any case, smarting at the Court’s decision, the president has taken the opportunity to dissolve parliament. The legislature’s term is nearly up anyway. Elections were scheduled for late this year. Apparently, the Court was asked to make a ruling by a group of deputies. This, and presumably the fear that the legislature might not approve the president’s initiative, may explain why the Assembly has been dissolved. On 14 May the Convention démocratique et sociale (CDS) led by former president, Mahamane Ousmane, came out against the reform. The CDS is part of the governing coalition and has 22/113 seats in the Assembly.