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| Opposition anger at Niger leader | Opposition anger at Niger leader |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Opponents of President Mamadou Tandja of Niger have accused him of trying to turn the country into a dictatorship. | Opponents of President Mamadou Tandja of Niger have accused him of trying to turn the country into a dictatorship. |
| Mr Tandja, 70, dissolved parliament hours after the constitutional court rejected his plan to hold a referendum on extending his term in office. | Mr Tandja, 70, dissolved parliament hours after the constitutional court rejected his plan to hold a referendum on extending his term in office. |
| He is due to complete the permitted maximum of a decade in power, two five-year terms, later this year. | He is due to complete the permitted maximum of a decade in power, two five-year terms, later this year. |
| President Tandja's supporters say he deserves to stay on as he has boosted the uranium-rich country's economy. | President Tandja's supporters say he deserves to stay on as he has boosted the uranium-rich country's economy. |
| Mutiny prone | |
| Mr Tandja has the constitutional right to dissolve parliament, but the chairman of the opposition RDA party, Abdoulahy Diori Hamani, told the BBC the president's move had come as an unwelcome surprise. | Mr Tandja has the constitutional right to dissolve parliament, but the chairman of the opposition RDA party, Abdoulahy Diori Hamani, told the BBC the president's move had come as an unwelcome surprise. |
| He wants to create a kind of kingdom, which can't be - Niger is a republic Abdoul Kamara DineHuman rights campaigner | |
| Human rights campaigner Abdoul Kamara Dine said it reminded him of the worst kind of African dictatorships from the 1970s. | Human rights campaigner Abdoul Kamara Dine said it reminded him of the worst kind of African dictatorships from the 1970s. |
| "Our man is corrupted by power. He wants to create a kind of kingdom, which can't be - Niger is a republic," he told the BBC's Network Africa. | "Our man is corrupted by power. He wants to create a kind of kingdom, which can't be - Niger is a republic," he told the BBC's Network Africa. |
| Observers in the mutiny-prone country told the BBC's Idy Baraou they fear the political limbo may give the army an opportunity to intervene. | Observers in the mutiny-prone country told the BBC's Idy Baraou they fear the political limbo may give the army an opportunity to intervene. |
| The dissolution of parliament marks the end of a six-month struggle between the president and parliament over the third term issue. | |
| Mansur Liman from the BBC's Hausa Service says the president is now likely to press ahead with his plans for the referendum. | |
| According to the constitution, he has three months before a new parliament must be formed. | |
| On Tuesday, the constitutional court said Mr Tandja, who was first elected in 1999, was breaking his oath of office by trying to hang on. | |
| He had previously promised to quit in December this year, a month after presidential elections are due to be held. |