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Niger votes in city, regional polls ahead of presidential ballot
NIAMEY, Dec 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Voters in the poor West African country
of Niger cast ballots Sunday in municipal and regional polls two weeks ahead
of a presidential election which the incumbent, Mahamadou Issoufou, will not
contest because his two terms are up.
The ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) is the
overwhelming favourite in Sunday’s poll and its presidential candidate
Mohamed Bazoum is the runaway frontrunner in the December 27 ballot.
Some 7.4 million people are eligible to vote in the long-delayed polls in
the country’s 266 municipalities.
Many parts of the Sahel country’s west and southeast have suffered
repeated jihadists attacks since 2015, preventing people from registering to
vote, according to the national electoral commission CENI.
Polls close at six pm (1700 GMT).
Issoufou, who was elected in 2011 and 2016, has won praise for his
decision to step aside for a successor, unlike some counterparts on the
continent who have pushed through constitutional changes in order to extend
their presidencies.
The election should mark the first peaceful transfer of power in the
history of the coup-prone former French colony.
Bazoum, 60, a former interior and foreign minister under Issoufou, is
among 30 candidates in the race.
Last month Niger’s constitutional court blocked main opposition leader
Hama Amadou, 70, from running over a 2017 conviction for baby-smuggling, a
case he claimed was politically motivated.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:10hrs