Perestroika à la Nigérien: The Reasons for the Military Coup of 2023

Occupation: Associate Professor; Vice-Head of Laboratory for Sociopolitical Destabilization Risks Monitoring; Research Fellow
Affiliation:
National Research University Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation,

Anna M. Ilyina

Occupation: Visiting Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Affairs
Affiliation: HSE University St. Petersburg
Address: Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Journal name

Asia and Africa Today

Edition

Issue 11

Pages

15-22

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the events that transpired in Niger in July 2023, which led to the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazum by members of his own guard, under the command of Abdrahman Tchiani.

The fieldwork and interview materials that the authors gathered in Niger in September 2023 are used in this article. It is demonstrated that an escalated intra-elite conflict that started to fester as soon as Mohamed Bazum was elected president in 2021 was the cause of the military coup. The opposition, led by the Democratic and Republican Renewal Party and the Niger Democratic Movement for an African Federation, immediately denounced the results of the February 2021 presidential election as being falsified and staged large-scale demonstrations.

Then, in March 2021, before the inauguration in Niger, an unsuccessful coup attempt was made. A disagreement between Mohamed Bazum and his predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, inside the ruling Party for Democracy and Socialism may have become apparent by the middle of 2023. The Nigerian security forces, led by Abdrahman Tchiani, the head of the Presidential Guard, and Salifou Modi, the former and current Chief of the General Staff, as well as Abdou Issa, who opposed the current president, spoke the final word.

Keywords

military coup, Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, elite conflict, ECOWAS

Received

12.08.2023

Publication date

23.11.2023

Number of characters

24633

Cite

GOST	Issaev L., Ilyina A. “Perestroika” à la Nigérien: The Reasons for the Military Coup of 2023 // Asia and Africa Today – 2023. – Issue 11 C. 15-22 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750028608-0-1 (circulation date: 20.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750028608-0
MLA	Issaev, Leonid M, Ilyina, Anna M. "“Perestroika” à la Nigérien: The Reasons for the Military Coup of 2023." Asia and Africa Today 11 (2023):15-22. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750028608-0
APA	Issaev L., Ilyina A. (2023). “Perestroika” à la Nigérien: The Reasons for the Military Coup of 2023. Asia and Africa Today (11), pp.15-22 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750028608-0

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