APA – Conakry (Guinea) – Guinea, through the ‘Comite National du Rassemblement pour le Developpement’ (CNRD), the central management and decision-making body since September 5, 2021, has expressed its views on the decisions taken by ECOWAS following the coup in Niger on 26 July.
The regional organization has given the perpetrators of the coup d’Etat against Niger’s Mohamed Bazoum a one-week ultimatum, and has not ruled out the use of force to restore him to office.
Meeting in extraordinary session on Sunday 30 July, the Conference of Heads of State of ECOWAS imposed economic and financial sanctions on Niger and demanded the release of President Bazoum. The regional
institution is not ruling out the use of force to obtain his reinstatement.
In a press release broadcast on the state media on the evening of Monday 31 July, the CNRD, led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, President of the Guinean transition, stated that it was following with great interest developments in the socio-political situation in Niger “which led to the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) assuming responsibility.”
“The Guinean authorities pay tribute to the brave people of Niger for their high sense of patriotism, and salute the republican spirit and maturity of the Defence and Security Forces, who have put the higher interests of their nation first by choosing to come together to find solutions to Niger’s problems,” said Colonel Aminata Diallo,
spokesperson for the Guinean junta.
The Guinean junta is convinced that the new authorities will do everything in their power to guarantee stability and harmony in Niger and the sub-region, the statement said.
It warns, however, that the sanctions advocated by ECOWAS, including military intervention “are an option that cannot be a solution to the current problem but would lead to a human disaster whose consequences could extend beyond the borders of Niger.”
It went on to say “the CNRD refrains from applying these illegitimate and inhumane sanctions against the brotherly people and authorities of Niger, and urges ECOWAS to come to its senses,” stressing that military intervention against Niamey “would de facto lead to the dislocation” of the regional organisation.
The CNRD also made it clear that “the sanctions imposed and the threats made at the summit on 30 July 2023 are in no way binding on the Republic of Guinea.”
Through this position, the Guinean authorities are reaffirming their pan-Africanist vision by expressing their solidarity with the people of Niger and calling on the new authorities of the CNSP to preserve national unity and cohesion.
Democratically elected in April 2021, President Mohamed Bazoum was deposed on Wednesday 26 July by a group of soldiers led by the head of the presidential guard, General Abdourahamane Tchiani. Forty-eight
hours later, Tchiani announced that he had put an end to the Seventh Republic of Niger because of shortcomings in the country’s security strategy, which, like Mali and Burkina Faso, is facing a jihadist insurgency.
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