WORLD BRIEFING / NIGER
Niger’s top court annulled President Mamadou Tandja’s plans to hold a constitutional referendum aimed at extending his rule in the uranium-producing West African country, saying it was illegal.
Tandja is due to step down when his second term ends this year, but he had called for an Aug. 4 referendum that could have handed him another three years of running the nation, which soon hopes to become the world’s No. 2 uranium exporter.
The ruling said Tandja’s decree calling the referendum violated several articles of Niger’s Constitution. The court had already given an opinion on the president’s plans, saying they were unlawful, but the latest decision is legally binding.
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