Release Bazoum Now; Only Citizens Have Right To Choose Their Leaders -Biden Tells Niger Coup Plotters
United States President Joe Biden, has called on the coup plotters in Niger Republic to release immediately the elected President Mohamed Bazoum so that the country’s democracy can be preserved.
Biden also told the coup plotters that it is only the citizens of the country who have the constitutional rights to choose their leaders.
“I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” Biden said in a statement issued on Thursday, 3 August, 2023, the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence.
“In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honor our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance,” he said.
Bazoum, 63, was ousted a week ago by his own guard in a coup condemned by the United States, European nations and the United Nations.
“The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders.They have expressed their will through free and fair elections — and that must be respected,” Biden said.
Bazoum was elected in 2021 after winning elections that ushered in Niger’s first peaceful transition of power.
He took the helm of a country burdened by four previous coups since independence from France in 1960.
The clock is ticking on a demand made Sunday, 30 July, 2023 by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS for the coup leaders to restore Bazoum to power within a week or face the possible “last resort” of military intervention.
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