US Rejects 'Interim Govt'
Aderemi Ojikutu
debate of vanity concerning the desirability of an Interin government,
come 2007 met a brick-wall on Saturday from the spokespersons of the
U.S. Government. pls, read on:
FROM LAOLU AKANDE (NORTH AMERICA BUREAU CHIEF)
TALKS about the possible formation of an interim government in Nigeria
after the expiration of the Obasanjo administration next year may draw
the ire of the international community, judging from hints from top
United States government officials.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Dr. Jendayi Frazer said
at the weekend that Nigeria is fully capable of conducting an election
next year.
She said the US government was not expecting an interim government
arrangement in Nigeria. "We would expect a national election in
Nigeria," she added.
"They've had one before, and they should be fully capable of having one
next year. And so I don't - I wouldn't anticipate that we would look at
an interim government."
Speculations about the idea of interim government indicate that it
could last another two years from May next year.
But Frazer, a former US ambassador to South Africa and top adviser to
both President George W. Bush and Secretary Condoleezza Rice, suggested
that the US government might not welcome the idea.
She spoke to foreign journalists in Washington D.C and New York, via
video-conferencing, on Congo's elections coming up today, the first in
that war-ravaged country in about 40 years.
The Guardian's exchange with Frazer went thus: Talking about elections,
there are quite some countries in Africa right now where there are
speculations of holding interim governments instead of elections. Now,
in case a government comes up with the idea of an interim government
instead of holding an election, what will be the attitude of United
States, like is it being speculated right now in Nigeria?
Frazer: "Well, certainly we would look at the situation at hand. I
mean, that's a hypothetical, and there are, you know, 54 countries in
Africa. (Chuckles.) And so to ask a hypothetical (question) you know
depends on the circumstances.
"We would expect a national election in Nigeria. They've had one
before, and they should be fully capable of having one next year. And
so I don't - I wouldn't anticipate that we would look at an interim
government.
"Typically, you look at these situations when a country's coming out of
war and there's some type of transitional process as the institutions
are established."
The Guardian also asked Frazer about the political tension in Nigeria,
including the differences between its President and Vice President. The
exchange went thus:
Since we're talking about lasting stability in Africa, there's another
election coming up next year, which I guess should be of importance to
the United States. This is the election in Nigeria. And going into that
election, there are now concerns about the freedom of the press.
Currently, there are two journalists in Nigeria that are going through
a sedition trial. There are very serious issues of security in the
Niger Delta. There's a big-time internal fight between the President
and Vice President. Is the U.S concerned about these issues that are
leading up to the election next year?
Frazer: Well, the United States is concerned about Nigeria as a whole.
We consider Nigeria a strategic partner to the United States in terms
of its role and influence throughout Africa and globally, and so
certainly, we are concerned about the transition process in Nigeria.
"We have to work very closely with all of the political parties, as we
did in the previous elections. Certainly, press freedom is a
cornerstone of a democratic transformation in a fair and free election.
And so we're going to work with the Nigerian people, to try to help
them get through this next election process.
"So, we expect them to get through... with some bumps, fits and starts.
But it's a young democracy. It's a country that's come out of many,
many more years of military rule than civilian rule.
"Especially where we're trying to focus, the United States value-added
in these election processes is to strengthen the independent electoral
commissions so that they can conduct a free and fair election, so that
they can train election observers, so that they can have a fair ballot
process.
"And so, that's probably where we will focus, as well as engaging all
of the political parties to have some type of code of conduct, some
kind of set of principles by which they will conduct themselves.
"But clearly, a country as large and as populous as Nigeria is going to
have some problems in its process, but we want to work with them to try
to make it the best process as possible."