The coup in Niger, where Colonel Salou Djibo appears to have taken over and detained President Mamadou Tandja, is not inexplicable. Mr Tandja provoked a political crisis last August when he changed the constitution of the uranium-rich country to allow him to remain in power indefinitely. Any violent takeover is problematic and the people of Niger will suffer -- and so one can only hope the efforts of the African Union to broker peace work.
That said...
Unconstitutional change is, absent tyranny, wrong -- but imagine if Stephen Harper unilaterally changed the Constitution to say he was Prime Minister for life -- perhaps a rebellion might make sense? [Before I am eaten alive by Conservative readers, I use Harper as an example -- if you prefer, replace his name by any other -- in our system it is implausible any Prime Minister could (or would want to) change the Constitution as described].
See BBC story here: http://tinyurl.com/yzanl5n
1 comment:
I'm a conservative and if any, any, prime minister of our nation tried that BS, I'd be all over an assassination.
Sic semper tyrannis is something we can all agree on, liberal or conservative.
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