Niger's Council of Ministers Set Date for Constitutional

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000432 DEPT FOR AF/W AND AF/RSA PLS PASS TO USAID FOR AFR/W ACCRA ALSO FOR USAID/WA PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM SOCI NG SUBJECT: Niger's Council of Ministers Set Date for Constitutional Referendum Ref: a)Niamey 00391 b)Niamey 00381 c)Niamey 00376 Referendum Campaign to Begin in July -------------- ¶1. (U) On June 5, Niger's Council of Ministers announced a fixed date for a constitutional referendum. This comes on the heels of President Tandja's May 29 address to the nation on State television (Tele-Sahel) informing Nigeriens of his intention to seek a new constitution, via referendum, that would lift the current limit on presidential terms(ref a). According to the decree issued by the Ministers on June 5, the referendum campaign will open on July 13 and end on August 2. Nigeriens would then vote on the constitutional referendum on August 4. Status of National Assembly Elections Unknown -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The August 4 date for a constitutional referendum is an important development. According to Article 48 of Niger's constitution, elections for a new National Assembly must take place within 45-90 days of the dissolving of the assembly. President Tandja dissolved the National Assembly on May 26, meaning that there is a legal requirement to hold new elections before August 25. If President Tandja chooses to wait until after the constitutional referendum and, if he is able to get a yes vote on it together with presidential term modifications, this may affect the requirement for National Assembly elections to be held in the near future. (Note: It is believed there would be legal implications if the new elections do not occur before the August 4 constitutional referendum because President Tandja dissolved the National Assembly based on the current constitution. Consequently the legality of holding future elections based on a new/different constitution would come into play. End note.)