20110312
REUTERS

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's junta said Saturday's election of a civilian leader could serve as a model for democracy across Africa, as voters turned out for a run-off between two presidential rivals.

The poll comes a year after soldiers ousted ex-president Mamadou Tandja for outstaying his term in office in the West African uranium-producing state, which hopes to turn the page on decades of coups and corrupt leadership.

In contrast to an election dispute in the former regional giant Ivory Coast, Niger's presidential vote has passed off smoothly so far and junta leader General Salou Djibo has won international praise for his professed readiness to step down.

"It is a great day for me and for all Nigeriens," Djibo told reporters as he cast his vote in the capital Niamey.

"If this honourable vote is a success, our democratic achievement will set an example for the rest of Africa," said Djibo, a bespectacled figure who was one of only two military leaders to be invited to France's Africa summit last year.

Favourite to win is veteran opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou, who scored 36 percent in the January first round and has since won endorsements from defeated candidates representing around 30 percent of the total vote.

Issoufou stands against Tandja party ally Seyni Oumarou, who scored 23 percent in the first round. Oumarou had the backing of a broad alliance of parties until they defected last month in the hope of securing posts in a future Issoufou government.

Results are expected early next week and the swearing-in of a new civilian leader will mark the end of junta rule in April. Some 6.7 million Nigeriens are eligible to vote.