CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Joseph Seydou Allakaye, Niger, April 1998
THEME = POLITICS
All the ingredients for a social and political explosion are
present in Niger.
The country is practically blocked at all levels
After two years and three months in power, General Ibrahim Baré Maďnassara appears to have all the difficulties in the world to continue running the country.
The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP-Jamaha) is the President's political party which somehow tries to organise the country's affairs - after all, it's number one among the group of parties supporting the President. This group is made up of about ten parties - a group which look like coming apart at the seams because everyone wants to have a taste for power. Money also plays an important part in the group splitting up. Parties such as the Nigérien Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP- Zaman-Lahiya), PUND-Salama and The Nigérien Party for Joint Rule (PNA-Alhoumat), previously members of the presidential group, have now stepped aside and formed the Alliance of Democratic and Social Forces.
While the presidential grouping is busy tearing itself apart, the opposition Front for the Restoration and for the Defence of Democracy (FRDD) is going from strength to strength and is busy re-organising itself. First of all, the FRDD took a number of initiatives to prove it is all for democracy. Now it's gone into top gear by organising "action days" aimed at "encouraging" President Baré to resign. In April, such action days met with some success throughout the country, although violence broke out in Maradi and Zinder, where several party activists were detained.
The political situation deteriorated to such an extent, that recently, about one hundred anti-riot police were dispatched by air from Niamey to help the local police restore law and order and enable RDP-Jamaha hold a meeting in Maradi. The FRDD had sworn they would prevent this rally (financed by state funds) from taking place. In such an atmosphere, apart from those politicians determined to settle old scores, the population as a whole is not really interested in politics.
As for the army, it's cheering on General Baré (no secret here!) and refuses to intervene in the current disorder.
Something else: blind terror is spreading, especially in Niamey. Armed and hooded death squads are running amok terrifying everyone. Niger's biggest private printing works (the owner is also the director of the independent weekly Le Républicain) was almost burnt down in the middle of the night. The same death squads machine-gunned the house and car of the FRDD's national co-ordinator, also at night. Several private cars have been burnt in front of bars in Niamey. The government found nothing better to do than to accuse the Opposition of financing the violence. On the other hand, the Opposition suspects the government of shamefully orchestrating these happenings, so as to discredit its opponents in front of the population.
As if this is not enough, the government is "imagining" plots so as to get rid of annoying opposition leaders - people such as Hama Amadou, General Secretary of the powerful National Movement for a Society of development (MSND), who was accused of attempting to kill the President of the Republic. These "stories" are so gross that now, nobody believes them.
Politics influence social matters, and in this area, nothing seems to be going right any more. Workers' repeated strikes are becoming a tradition. At every level of seniority, their meagre salaries are paid only every 50 or 60 days. As nothing is improving, workers in the individual sectors of industry and departments have decided that enough is enough, and pressure must be brought to bear on the appropriate authorities so that salaries are paid on time. Even soldiers had to mutiny in order to get paid. This was a signal for all - judges, employees in the Treasury Department, customs officials, health workers - to take strike action in order to get their salaries paid.
Similar problems were faced by students who didn't get their allowances or scholarship money. They decided to agitate for their rights as well.
Last year, it was possible to save the academic year from being a complete non-starter, but the same cannot be said this year. The students say: "This is exactly what the government wants". And possibly, they're right. Although the students decided to return to their various institutions without having received their scholarship money, the government ordered the closure of the university campus. In a raid, on 24 April, the police detained about ten students suspected of masterminding acts of vandalism. The government says the students are being manipulated by the Opposition. The students have sworn to pursue their activity and even to take it into the political arena. Another problem for the government to sort out, and it's going to have to act quickly!
Previous statistics for the harvest showed a 400,000 ton deficit in cereals. Prices have shot up to such an extent that people can no longer afford to buy cereals. And we haven't even reached the "dry" period between the previous harvest and the new harvest which is always very difficult for the farmers, most of whom have left their villages. Famine is present everywhere in Niger, in towns and villages alike. The small grants received from the State hardly cover needs for two days. In some regions, the villagers eat the leaves from the trees and dig up the termite hills to eat the white ants. This shows how serious the situation is.
Niger's economic indicators are all on "red alert". Even the "informal sector" of the economy which normally is usually very prosperous, is just about ticking over. "There's no business", say the tradesmen, "because the people don't have cash". Fiddling and under- the-counter activities are going on all the time, which does nothing to help a planned and constructive use of Niger's resources. This, in turn, reduces the State's income. Fraud is commonplace and increasing all the time.
To make matters worse, in his address to the Nation, President Baré seemed quite happy to say that nothing is going right in Niger, without putting forward any suggestions about how to redress the situation. That's why the Opposition is relentlessly calling for the President's resignation - a President the Opposition considers unfit to govern. Curiously, the only thing the Head of State suggested to Niger's population is they should "examine their consciences". This, the people refuse to do so, considering that a minimum effort must come from the President himself and from the parties supporting him, who spend their time squandering the country's meagre resources.
Today, everybody agrees that the Head of State has become a hostage to his entourage, who are absolutely opposed to a dissolution of parliament and the calling of new elections - the only honourable way out of the present crisis. They know only too well that these elections would be the end of the Baré regime and, incidently, "goodbye" to them as well. The RDP-Jamaha is unknown to the people in the provinces and is composed only of deserters from the bigger parties forming the Opposition. Party militants (even the President's supporters), call on Niger's population to join in an effort to free Baré from associates who dictate everything he must do.
The President does not know which way to turn. He recently proposed to change his presidential group into a national government. This would inevitably lead towards the creation of a one-party system with a state party. Then comes a dictatorship and in one go, all the democratic experiences Niger has been going through at great cost, are swept away.
Baré refuses to disband the National Assembly and has promised his fellow citizens local and regional elections this year. But the Opposition is already warning against electoral fraud, in particular, falsification of electoral lists. This time, the Opposition is adamant. If they are to take part in the elections they will not tolerate any delays to the elections, even if it means there will be casualties in their own ranks. They say: "We won't be cheated again, whatever means we have to use"
Niger is at a cross-roads and any day, everything could come adrift. All the more so, as the Opposition is determined to pursue its actions until President Baré has effectively resigned. The arrest and the coming trial of a number of opposition activists are not making things any easier. Niger's external debt is now 80 billion CFA francs and the national debt amounts to 200 billion CFA francs.
President Baré's most recent distress signal was to convene a conference of his most senior advisors on 29 April 1998. None of the advisers present at Niamey Congress House was even given the possibility of taking the floor, and the Opposition boycotted the event. The President threatened the FRDD opposition and accused them of causing all Niger's sufferings. He then gave very firm orders to those in charge of the country's administration, to severely repress all demonstrations organised by the opposition. There's obviously going to be trouble ahead as FRDD activists are determined to continue their fight until the President gives up the struggle.
At the same time, following instructions from the President, the Home Ministry prohibited the four private radio stations from reporting opposition activities throughout the national territory, under pain of severe sanctions. With the consequence that now hardly anybody listens to these radio stations. Only meetings which have been announced well in advance, which have been duly authorised and which are well-stewarded may take place. Protest marches and the like are quite simply prohibited throughout the length and breadth of the country.
Now everything is in place for the whole of Niger's fabric to quite simply explode, all the more so as President Baré announced at the 29 April conference, that the local and regional elections wouldn't take place until the end of 1998. This of course irritates the FRDD which says that Baré is trying to win time so he can better prepare for fraudulent elections. The Opposition says they will never allow this.
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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