Topic: Promoting Peaceful Post-Election Transitions
Country: Niger
Delegate Name: Seung Hoon Lee
School: Cranbrook Kingswood
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Niger position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
The nation of Niger experienced a post-election controversy in 1996. An opposing party accused the elected candidate General Ibrahim Mainassara for fabricating the election result, which the president firmly denied. The accuser Mahamane Ousmane was exiled. However, it is now known that Mainassara manipulated the election elaborately.
The delegation of Niger recognizes the issue associated with post-election controversies in nations concerned. Election is a momentous and stirring event, and it can be a turning point for any group of people since the new elected leader can drive the group into prosperity or predicament. Because of the significant importance that is put on the event, an election should be examined carefully. This January 2008 in Kenya the result for the presidential election is disputed to be manipulated. It has caused violence between the tribe of the elected candidate and another major tribe that opposed it, and this killed several hundreds of people and put the nation into chaos. In Zimbabwe the situation is similar. The electoral vote is suspected to be manipulated and the government denies its corruption. These kind of deceptive political measures threaten democracy and world peace. To prevent further conflicts over the elections the world should set firm positions regarding dishonest political acts and carry out resolute policies.
For any regime with controversial election process, the members of UN should prohibit any financial aid or trade with the country and persuade the regime to reinstate democratic government. Niger petitions world cooperation to root out political corruptions to promote post-election peace.
