More than a week after the military coup that deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s junta chose a temporary prime minister Monday, according to a proclamation broadcast on national television.
According to a decree issued by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, the former commander of Niger’s presidential guard who declared himself the head of a transitional government, the caretaker government, known as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, appointed economist Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine.
Zeine, 58, was finance minister under Mamadou Tandja, who headed the country after its restoration to civilian administration from 1999 to 2010.
Zeine is now the African Development Bank’s Chad Country Manager.
Zeine is anticipated to oversee negotiations for the establishment of a new government, having previously served in the same institution and post in Ivory Coast and Gabon.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet another emergency session in Nigeria on Thursday to discuss the political situation in Niger after military officials defied an ultimatum to transfer control.
The US State Department announced on Monday that it has established direct contact with the coup leaders and emphasised the need of restoring Bazoum and Niger’s “constitutional order.”
On July 26, Bazoum was apprehended by soldiers of the Presidential Guard, who later that evening declared the government takeover.