According to a declaration read out on national television on Thursday, the military leaders in Niger who took power in a coup last month have constituted a new government.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine will lead the 21-member administration, with defense and interior ministries headed by generals from the new military governing council.
According to media reports, Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of the mutineers who took power in Niger, signed a proclamation establishing a new transitional government on Thursday.
Tchiani signed the order on Wednesday, according to the ActuNiger new portal, and the new interim government has 21 ministers.
According to the list of new government members, the military ranks comprise an absolute minority among them.
President Mohamed Bazoum was deposed and detained on July 26 by his own guards, led by Tchiani, who declared himself the country’s new leader.
The caretaker National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland then blocked the country’s borders, disregarding security accords with Niger’s former coloniser, France.
The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, ceased all financial help to the government on July 30 and froze the assets of the insurgents.
The sub-regional union also banned commercial flights to and from the country, as well as closing all borders.
ECOWAS went a step further, giving the coup leaders one week to reinstate Bazoum and restore order, threatening military action if they did not, NewsAfrica had reported.
The deadline passed on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS leaders are due to meet on Thursday, August 10, in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss the Nigerien issue.