ECOWAS Parliament convene Extra-Ordinary Session over coup situation in Niger Republic, divided over solutions

The ECOWAS Parliament will host an Extra-Ordinary Session on Saturday, August 12 via the internet to in-depth debate the most recent political developments in the Republic of Niger.

This information was issued in a statement from the parliament’s communications division.

The parliament said that within the context of giant changes that occurred in the politico-economic spectrum of the world in the late 1980s, several ECOWAS member states were motivated to take decisive steps towards achieving peace and security through the development of democracy and good governance by the early 1990s.

Read Also: ECOWAS fears Niger may become a ground for proxy war by France, Russia and China, others

“Thus, the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance came into force in 2001, marking an important stage in the sub-region’s political development.

“Military regimes and one-party systems caved in for the emergence of multi-Party democracies.

“Nevertheless, recent political developments in the region are pointing toward a reversal of the political gains of the past two decades.

“There is a resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government through military coup d’etat, as recorded in four Member States of the sub-region, namely: the Republics of Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger,’’ the parliament observed.

In the aftermath of the summit, the Parliament was divided over the actions that should be taken to address the Niger coup.

While some parliamentarians of ECOWAS were in support of military action against the Niger junta, others were against it.

Twenty-two parliamentarians took part in the virtual extraordinary meeting on Saturday to discuss the political crisis in Niger Republic.

While some members of the parliament advocated for negotiation and diplomacy, others urged taking concrete steps to halt the spread of military rule in the area.

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