ECOWAS rejects Niger junta’s proposed three-year delay for elections

West Africa’s main regional bloc, ECOWAS, has rejected a proposal by Niger’s military junta to hold elections within three years, extending a political
impasse that could trigger a military intervention if no agreement is reached following a July coup.
ECOWAS and other international powers have been seeking diplomatic solutions to the July 26 putsch in Niger, the seventh in West and Central Africa in three years.
But after several attempts for dialogue were rejected, the bloc – which has taken a harder stance on Niger than its junta-led neighbours – activated a regional force that military heads have said is ready to deploy if talks fail.
It doubled down on its threat on Friday, one day before the junta eventually agreed to meet an ECOWAS delegation in the capital Niamey, suggesting new willingness to cooperate.