After a failed democratic experiment in 1993-96 and two military coups, Niger successfully held free and fair elections in 1999. The next couple of years will be crucial to the long-term survival of democracy.
About the Authors
John Uniack Davis
John Uniack Davis is development assistance coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Niamey, Niger. Previously, he was a democratic governance consultant in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Aboubacar B. Kossomi is political assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Niger. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and should not be taken as an expression of U.S. government policy.
The election cycle concluding in the spring of 2003 was a guarded success. High hurdles to better governance and democratic consolidation remain, but Nigerians can now face them with greater…
