Nigeriens vote on presidential power extension

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger, a major uranium producer, voted on Tuesday on extending President Mamadou Tandja's term by three years in a referendum criticized by the opposition and the international community as undemocratic and bad for stability.

Tandja, who has ruled the Saharan state since 1999, is asking for three more years to oversee big foreign investments including a $5 billion oil deal with China National Petroleum Corp and a 1.2 billion euro ($1.73 billion) uranium mine contract with France's Areva.

His second and final term expires at the end of 2009, a deadline which the highest court has said cannot be altered.

Tandja argues the people of Niger want him to stay to finish the projects, which will bring billions of dollars into the country, one of the poorest in the world.

"In voting today, I believe I have responded to the will of the people, who have asked me to remain as head of state," Tandja said after casting his vote in the capital Niamey.

Opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou called on the estimated 6 million registered voters to boycott the plebiscite.

"The (anti-referendum coalition) CFDR reiterates its call for all citizens of Niger, all sincere democrats and all patriots to mobilize against this illegal referendum," he said.

BORDERS CLOSED

Security forces closed landlocked Niger's borders for 24 hours from midnight on Monday while voting, which is due to end at 1800 GMT, went ahead.

"Voting has begun across the country and I can say that everything is running normally so far," said Interior Minister Albade Abouba.

Tandja has shown that he will not be swayed by protests either within Niger or from foreign countries.

In June he dissolved the constitutional court and assumed the power to rule by decree. He reacted to international criticism by saying he was answerable only to the people of Niger.

After several setbacks for democracy in West Africa over the past 12 months, including military coups in Mauritania and Guinea and the assassination of the president in Guinea-Bissau, the international community is keen to stress that departures from constitutional governance will be punished.

The European Union, a major donor, has already suspended the payment of one tranche of aid to Niger, and warned that Tandja's pursuit of an extended presidential term could have "serious consequences" for its cooperation with Niger.

"The dissolution of the constitutional court and the exercise of government powers without parliamentary control are grave violations of core democratic values and the principles of the rule of law," said Sweden, the current EU presiden.

The United Nations appealed for calm during voting.

"The Secretary-General calls on the people of Niger to exercise utmost restraint and urges all parties to refrain from any form of violence," said a U.N. statement.