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ECOWAS asked to help with elections

West African foreign ministers have asked their highest regional economic body, ECOWAS, "to lend active support" to Niger's plans for democratic elections later this year. In their final communique published on Tuesday, following an emergency meeting on crises in West Africa, the ministers recommended that ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate take part in the preparation and supervision of elections promised for December by the military government. Niger is run by a 14-member Conseil de reconciliation nationale, headed by Major Daouda Wanke, whose unit killed then president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara in a 9 April coup. A technical committee set up by the new military rulers has drafted a new constitution and electoral code, which are to be examined by a new consultative body.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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