AGL 40.03 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.08%)
AIRLINK 127.50 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (0.36%)
BOP 6.72 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.75%)
CNERGY 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
DCL 8.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.4%)
DFML 41.66 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (0.53%)
DGKC 87.05 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.23%)
FCCL 32.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.31%)
FFBL 65.00 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.31%)
FFL 10.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.98%)
HUBC 109.75 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (0.16%)
HUMNL 14.70 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.14%)
KEL 5.15 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.98%)
KOSM 7.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.75%)
MLCF 41.48 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.24%)
NBP 59.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.51 (-0.84%)
OGDC 195.30 Increased By ▲ 5.20 (2.74%)
PAEL 28.35 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (1.87%)
PIBTL 7.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.64%)
PPL 151.50 Increased By ▲ 1.44 (0.96%)
PRL 26.64 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-0.89%)
PTC 16.15 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.5%)
SEARL 78.10 Decreased By ▼ -7.90 (-9.19%)
TELE 7.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-2.85%)
TOMCL 35.49 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.23%)
TPLP 8.07 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.62%)
TREET 16.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-1.58%)
TRG 52.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.92%)
UNITY 26.69 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (2.03%)
WTL 1.26 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,941 Increased By 57.3 (0.58%)
BR30 30,924 Increased By 324.3 (1.06%)
KSE100 93,843 Increased By 488 (0.52%)
KSE30 29,066 Increased By 135.4 (0.47%)

Campaigning has begun for Niger's October 20 parliamentary election, with President Mamadou Tandja calling on voters in the uranium-mining country to give him and his party the power to complete large-scale projects. Last month Tandja used the same rationale for holding a referendum on changing the constitution to give himself three more years in power without holding an election, and shifting to a fully presidential system of government.
This extension of his authority has drawn protests in Niger and criticism from abroad on the ground that it is undermining democracy, but the mining and energy firms spending billions of dollars in Niger have shown no sign of pulling back. "By giving the government a comfortable majority, you are without doubt giving it the means the accomplish its goals," Tandja said on television late on Sunday, referring to "big tasks".
During the campaign for the much-criticised referendum which he won with more than 90 percent of the vote, Tandja concentrated on what he said was the need for him to oversee the mining and infrastructure projects that could transform the economy of one of the world's poorest countries.
Among those are a deal with French state-owned energy firm Areva, which is building a 1.2 billion euro ($1.72 billion) uranium mine in Niger's north, home to a simmering rebellion by Tuareg dissidents, while China National Petroleum Corp last year signed a $5 billion oil agreement.
Opposition coalition the Co-ordination of Democratic Forces for the Republic (CFDR) has called for a boycott of the October 20 election, and denounced the August referendum as a "coup d'etat". "The CFDR cannot vouch for any election organised on the basis of the new constitution," it said in a statement.

Copyright Reuters, 2009

Comments

Comments are closed.