Politics
A plan to restrict West African presidents to two terms in office has been dropped for the time being by heads of state, reports the BBC.
They discussed the proposal to impose limits at a regional summit. Togo and The Gambia, both with presidents who have been in power for more than two terms, opposed the idea, diplomats say. The third-term issue has caused a lot of controversy in several African states in recent years.
Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore was forced out of office last year after plans to run for a third term. There is currently political tension in East Africa as Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza is hoping to win a third term in office.
The constitutions of most West African states already impose a two-term limit. The proposal discussed at Wednesday's Ecowas summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, was supposed to formalise this across the region.
The U.N. representative in West Africa Mohammed Ibn Chambas backed the plan and said it had been triggered by the failed attempt by President Compaore to change the constitution the allow him to run for a third term.
But the BBC's Sammy Darko in Accra says that it was not adopted as Togo and The Gambia had reservations. "This dissenting view became the majority view at the end of the day," the Reuters news agency quotes Ghana's Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh as saying. The plan has now been deferred for further consultation.
