{"id":192013,"date":"2016-02-21T14:33:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T14:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=192013"},"modified":"2016-02-21T14:33:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T14:33:06","slug":"niger-election-voters-choose-president-in-tense-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/02\/niger-election-voters-choose-president-in-tense-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger election: Voters choose president in tense polls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"story-body__introduction\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Voters in Niger are going to the polls under tight security in presidential and parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">President Mahamadou Issoufou is hoping to secure a second term in the impoverished West African nation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His main rival, Hama Amadou, is currently behind bars accused of trafficking babies, a charge he strongly denies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The run-up to the vote has been marred by accusations of repression and a row over identification documents.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The authorities have announced that roughly 1.5 million people without ID papers will be able to cast their ballots by having witnesses vouch for them, in a move that was condemned by opposition leaders.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Niger is rich in natural resources, including uranium and oil, but is one of the poorest countries on earth, ranking last in the UN Human Development Index.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"story-body__crosshead\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Crowded field<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Most polling stations opened at about 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Sunday. However, voting was delayed in some parts of the capital Niamey, owing to late delivery of ballot papers.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 601px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/F41A\/production\/_88309426_gettyimages-489676504.jpg\" alt=\"Nigerien President President Mahamadou Issoufou\" width=\"601\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Critics accuse President Mahamadou Issoufou of becoming increasingly authoritarian as the vote nears<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Security was tightened amid fears of jihadist attacks by groups based in neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Libya.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meanwhile, President Issoufou says his government foiled a coup plot in December.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One of the candidates in Sunday&#8217;s presidential election, Ibrahim Hamidou, was arrested for casting doubt upon December&#8217;s alleged coup but was released in January against the wishes of state prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Aside from Hama Amadou, a former Prime Minister, other well-known figures among the crowded field of 15 presidential candidates include Mahamane Ousmane, Niger&#8217;s first democratically elected president.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10D3\/production\/_88370340_031556670-1.jpg\" alt=\"A group of young supporters of Niger's presidential candidate, Ibrahim Yacouba\" width=\"602\" height=\"399\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A run-off will be held if no candidate secures an outright victory on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Niger is seen as an important ally of Western powers in the fight against militant Islamists in the fragile Sahara region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, the country is far from stable. Corruption, food shortages and porous borders remain serious problems.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8211;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Voters in Niger are going to the polls under tight security in presidential and parliamentary elections. President Mahamadou Issoufou is hoping to secure a second term in the impoverished West African nation. His main rival, Hama Amadou, is currently behind bars accused of trafficking babies, a charge he strongly denies. The run-up to the vote [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Niger election: Voters choose president in tense polls - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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