In Benin, the political class is paying attention to the crisis in Niger. Among the opposition parties, “Restaurer l’Espoir” (RE), led by former Defense Minister Candide Azannaï, has also taken a stance on this pressing issue.
In a public statement, the RE party has provided recommendations to ECOWAS for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Fundamentally, Candide Azannaï’s party calls on ECOWAS to acknowledge the situation rather than denying it to better understand the crisis. According to them, the coup d’etat on July 26, 2023, is a reality. “It is a denial to continue talking about an attempted coup when President Mohamed BAZOUM has been ousted and all the Armed Forces of the Republic of NIGER have rallied to this coup with the allegiance declaration of their Chief of General Staff,” they stated.
Candide Azannaï notes that currently in Niger, Mohamed Bazoum has lost control of power, but the functioning of the State has not stopped. He observes that the National Council for the Safeguard of Democracy (CNSP), established by the coup plotters, is effectively exercising the attributes of the State and thus becomes the “custodian of Nigerian public power, the embodiment of the Nigerien State.”
Given this reality, the “Restaurer l’Espoir” (RE) Party strongly recommends that ECOWAS acknowledge that the coup d’etat on July 26, 2023, has taken place.
Furthermore, “the Restaurer l’Espoir (RE) Party strongly disapproves of ECOWAS for its decision on July 30, 2023, which advocates the use of armed force against the sovereign state of the independent Republic of NIGER.” This constitutes a “flagrant violation of Chapter VI: Peaceful Settlement of Disputes (Articles 33-38) and Chapter VII: Action in case of a threat to peace, breach of peace, and act of aggression (Articles 39-51) of the UNITED NATIONS,” they observe.
