Former President of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane and elected Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament has pledged to respect the rule of law and work on current reforms of the Sub-Regional body and the Community Parliament. Mahamane Ousmane 56, a Mathematician, Statistician and Public Servant polled 58 votes to beat his opponent Moumouni Adamah Djermakoye who had 37 votes, in an election preceded by much debate over parliamentary procedure on Tuesday. He takes over from Professor Ali Nouhu Diallo for the next four years. The new Speaker pledged his faith in the rule of law, regional integration and solidarity, adding “I have faith in ECOWAS as one of the building blocks to achieve African Unity.” “I am convinced that we should play a role in the African integration efforts for nations operating in isolation would not lead to economic and social development of our Continent,” President Ousmane added. He said the role of the Community Parliament should be to consolidate the democratic gains to entrench peace and stability on the continent, adding, “Those ideals would only be achieved when power were placed in the sovereign will of the people.” Speaking to journalists later, former President Ousmane who is also the Chairman of Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa, described the election as free and fair. He said the election was in fulfillment of the wishes of Heads of States and Governments to elect a Speaker and also a lesson for African countries to place power in the hands of the people. The Speaker said the main problem was how African countries understood and practiced democracy in their daily activities, and pledged to propel the Legislature to address treaties of ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments at their last summit that underlined the restructuring of the Sub-regional body. Mahamane Ousmane once served as a President of the Assembly of French Parliamentarians and elected twice as Speaker of the Nigerien Parliament. Source: GNA