尼日尔总统选举为“非洲的典范”

Niger has held a peaceful presidential run-off vote, which the country's interim¹ military rulers have hailed as an example for the rest of Africa.

尼日尔举行了一次和平的决定性总统竞选，该国临时军事统治者称赞此次选举是非洲其它国家的榜样。

The military helped organise² the vote, a year after overthrowing³（推翻，倾覆） former President Mamadou Tandja.

Voters had to choose between opposition⁴ leader Mahamadou Issoufou and Mr Tandja's ally Seini Oumarou.

Mr Tandja had spent 10 years in power, but was overthrown⁵ when he tried to overstay his legal term limit.

The army, which has pledged to step down by April, said it was not backing either candidate and would serve whichever government the people chose.

General Salou Djibo, who has led the junta⁶（团体，派别） since its largely popular coup⁷, called Saturday a "great day for me and for all Nigeriens".

"If this honourable⁸ vote is a success, our democratic achievement will set an example for the rest of Africa," he said as he cast his vote.

The BBC's Idy Baraou in the capital Niamey says the voting seems to have gone smoothly⁹, but the turnout appears to be lower than in the first round of the vote, held last month.

The election was overseen¹⁰ by about 2,000 observers from the African Union, regional economic bloc¹¹ Ecowas, the EU and US groups.

EU monitoring chief Santiago Fisas hailed the election as a "victory of the people of Niger", adding: "It is an example of how to come again to democracy in peace."

Niger, a largely desert nation in West Africa, has reserves of uranium and has attracted billions of dollars of investment.

But it remains¹² one of the world's poorest nations, and has a recent history littered with military coups¹³ and failed democratic transitions（过渡，转变） .

Voter Mariama Maiga, a Nigerien student, told the AP news agency she hoped the election would turn the page of the country's political crises.

"The loser should concede（承认，退让） his defeat and the new president should get to work to find a solution to our problems of unemployment, corruption¹⁴ and misappropriation of public funds," she said.

Mr Issoufou won 36% of votes in the first round, and expressed confidence he would be elected in the second round.