Tandja’s term is due to end on 22 December but he has called a referendum for 4 August to vote on a new constitution. If approved, it would allow the 71-year-old to stay in office until 2012 and to run for office again.
In response to the Niamey court’s decision, however, unions have renewed their call for a strike to go ahead.
"Only the government is aware of such a court order,” Issoufou Sidibe, secretary general of the Confederation of Democratic Workers of Niger, told AFP. “We have not received any documentation from any judge to that effect."
Niger’s privately-owned newspapers began a week-long strike on Monday, while envoys from the United Nations and African regional bodies who met Tandja on Tuesday also expressed concern over his plans.
For his part, Tandja is unrepentant.
"They want me to go back (on the plan to hold a referendum) because of an international pressure, but I will never do that," Tandja said on state television late on Wednesday night. "I wont listen to anyone trying to prevent me from attaining the objectives of the people of Niger."
Tandja dissolved the parliament in May and later did the same with theConstitutional Court, after they rejected his proposal for a referendum three times.
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