Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS6611
2006-10-04 14:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

NIGER/FRANCE: ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY

Tags:  PREL EAID PINR PHUM KDEM NG FR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9587
RR RUEHPA RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #6611/01 2771407
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041407Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1959
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0007
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2498
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006611 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PREL EAID PINR PHUM KDEM NG FR
SUBJECT: NIGER/FRANCE: ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY


PARIS 00006611 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/
d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006611

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PREL EAID PINR PHUM KDEM NG FR
SUBJECT: NIGER/FRANCE: ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY


PARIS 00006611 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/
d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Encouraging the development of Niger's
budding democracy is France's principal concern for that
country, according to MFA desk officer Michael Deslaimes.
France shares the U.S.'s general approach to Niger. In the
GOF view, Niger enjoys relative stability when compared with
its neighbors. However, its democratic tradition is not
strong and it remains a very poor country with limited
resources. According to Deslaimes, Niger so far has not
suffered significant negative spillover from Chad or Sudan,
in part because it is more oriented to its west and south
rather than east and southeast. Ethnic friction exists
between the government and the Toubou population but this is
a centuries-old condition that both sides seem to be
managing, he explained. NGOs are active in Niger (sometimes
more than in more repressive places) and are a factor in
carrying out diplomacy, according to Deslaimes. In his view,
"thinking big" but "acting small" may be the best way to
effect change in Niger. France is in the process of
finalizing a Partnership Framework agreement for channeling
its assistance to Niger during the 2006-2010 period, with a
focus on education, health care, and water resource
management. END SUMMARY.

Encouraging Democracy
--------------

2. (C) MFA Niger desk officer Michael Deslaimes on October
2 provided a concise overview of Niger and France/Niger
relations to transiting Embassy Niamey Pol/Cons officer
Richard Roberts. Deslaimes said that France's priority in
Niger was to promote democracy, which had taken root after a
lengthy period of military rule. He noted that the military
and Niger's elites had concluded that that form of government
was not likely to take Niger in the right direction and had
instead opted for a more democratic approach, which was
bearing fruit. Deslaimes said that Mali had been in a
similar position and had also chosen democracy, but the two

countries had differing approaches. Malians stressed the
importance of consensus. In Deslaimes's view, however,
striving for consensus could sometimes stifle the democratic
process by discouraging or watering down divergent views. In
contrast, Deslaimes described Niger's democracy as more open
and free-wheeling. He indicated that Niger's approach seemed
more effective.


3. (C) At several points Deslaimes said that he believed
that France and the U.S. shared a common view of Niger and
were working towards the same goals -- encouraging democracy
and economic development. He remarked that USG and GOF
elements in Niger worked well together and that there seemed
to be no policy differences between the U.S. and France.

Little Spillover from the East
--------------

4. (C) Deslaimes said that Niger's relative stability stood
in stark contrast to the situation in neighboring countries,
particularly those to the east (i.e., Chad and Sudan).
Fortunately for Niger, the spillover from the instability and
violence in those countries had been minimal. This was in
part because Niger historically tended to look more towards
its west and immediate south rather than to its east and
southeast, whereas as Chad and Sudan were oriented more
towards their east and immediate south. Deslaimes commented
on the very old and proud cultural traditions that existed in
Niger, which outsiders sometimes, to their detriment,
overlooked.

Friction with the Toubou
--------------

5. (C) The one ethnic problem of concern in Niger involved
the Toubou minority. This was a centuries-old issue,
Deslaimes said, based in large measure on the nomadic and
fragmented nature of Toubou society -- "they do not view
themselves as 'governed' by anyone, and do not enjoy any
unity even among themselves." Deslaimes said that the Toubou
and GON had arrived at a "gentleman's agreement," with both
sides tacitly agreeing on certain limits that both would
respect. For example, Deslaimes said that Toubous drifting
into Niger from Chad had reached an understanding with
Niger's border security forces that they would leave their
weapons at the border and reclaim them should they happen to
return to the Chad side.

NGOs and "Thinking Big but Acting Small"
--------------

6. (C) Deslaimes said that NGOs were quite active in Niger
and were a factor to be considered by diplomatic missions
operating there. He noted that, paradoxically, NGOs in

PARIS 00006611 002.2 OF 002


relatively open countries like Niger were often more critical
of host governments than were NGOs in more repressive
countries, where they tended to be ignored or pressured into
silence. (Deslaimes hastened to add that he was not saying
Niger was a completely open society, only that it was more
open than a number of other less-developled nations,
particulary in its part of Africa.) NGOs often lobbied the
French Embassy in Niamey to support reform aggressively in
Niger, an approach that Deslaimes said had to be balanced
within the larger context of France-Niger relations and what
France was trying to accomplish there. Deslaimes suggested
that outsiders had to be careful to woo as well as push in
order to effect change, which NGOs sometimes did not seem to
take into account. Deslaimes remarked that in Niger, one
should "think big" (democracy, rule of law, good governance)
but "act small" (better to provide school supplies to 25
village schools than to fund costly travel-abroad programs
for two or three members of the elite).

Partnership Framework Agreement
--------------

7. (C) Deslaimes said that France was in the process of
concluding a Partnership Framework agreement with Niger,
which he thought could be signed within the coming weeks.
(NOTE: The GOF's recently initiated Partnership Framework
program is now the vehicle for channeling French assistance
to a recipient country, over a five-year period. The
framework concept contains built-in flexibility, allowing
agreements and their components to be modified over the
course of an accord in response to changing circumstances.
END NOTE.) Although refraining from providing specific
figures (which had perhaps not yet been finalized),Deslaimes
said the agreement with Niger would focus on education,
health care, and water resource management (both urban and
rural).



Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
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