Niger History

Thus redesigned the map of power, among the most urgent issues that presented themselves to the new institutions was that of the Tuaregh rebellionagainst which the head of the executive alternated appeals for pacification and rapid military offensives, without however reaching a real solution to the problem. On the other hand, the process of political democratization seemed to be less insecure, with the approval by referendum of a Constitution (December 1992) which allowed the first free presidential and legislative elections. The consultation for the formation of the Parliament (February 1993) was the prerogative of the opposition parties which, grouped in the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC), managed to win 50 of the 83 seats available, relegating the old single party to the opposition.

The result of the presidential elections held the following month was similar with Mahamane Ousmane’s victory over the MNSD candidate. The concretization of the democratic process also seemed to favor an easing of the pressure of the Tuaregh with whom a new agreement was established (March 1993). But, retracing the stages of a history unfortunately common to many countries set out on the path of democracy after years of authoritarianism, Niger was also a victim of the inability of the new ruling class to consolidate the representative institutions that were exchanged as an instrument of power and personal affirmation.. After the electoral phase, in fact, the various forces that had composed the alliance resumed their freedom of maneuver, causing an incurable disagreement between Prime Minister Mahamadou Issoufou, leader of the Nigerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) and President Ousmane, head of the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS). When the former resigned in September 1994, the president appointed Souley Abdoulaye of the CDS in his place and, faced with the mistrust of Parliament, dissolved him by calling new elections. The result of the poll (January 1995), in which all forces coalesced against President Ousmane’s party, saw him defeated and he was forced to appoint MNSD leader Hama Amadou as prime minister. Amadou initially seemed to be able to reach a definitive agreement with the Tuaregh rebels (1995), but after a few months the guerrillas resumed with greater force as the disagreements between the president and the prime minister intensified. The instability of the political framework in a situation of generalized resumption of the Northern rebellion led sectors of the army to a bloody coup that ended with the establishment of a national salvation committee (January 1996) headed by Colonel Ibrahim Barré Mainassara. Having cleared the previous institutions, the committee drafted a new presidential constitution which was approved in a referendum (May 1996).

According to remzfamily, the direct elections of the president, which took place shortly after (August), were won by the coup colonel, as well as the legislative ones, celebrated with various postponements in November of the same year, ensured his party, the Union of Independents for Democratic Renewal, a overwhelming majority. On both consultations, however, in confirmation of the involutionary picture imprinted by the military on the political life of Niger, there were suspicions of heavy manipulation. In April 1999, a few months after the outbreak of the protests of the opposition to the decision of the Supreme Court to cancel the results of the administrative elections, Mainassara was assassinated by his escort and the military carried out a coup: France and the United States suspended aid to the country, tying them to the restoration of democratic elections. These took place in November 1999 and led to the presidency M. Tandja of the MNSD. In August 2002, an attempted coup d’état carried out by some military units in the Diffa region was thwarted. In March 2004 the army had to intervene in the northern regions, where the guerrilla of the Tuaregh continues. In the presidential elections of December 2004, Tandja was reconfirmed as president. In March 2007, after the Parliament declared the executive no confidence, President Tandja, instead of calling early elections, appointed new prime minister Seyni Oumarou. In June 2009 the president dissolved the parliament and the constitutional court; the two institutions had opposed the modification of the constitution wanted by Tandja himself to obtain a third term. The new constitution that extends the presidential term by three years and strengthens the powers of Tandja himself was enacted two months later. In October, legislative elections were held in which only the pro-government parties linked to President Tandja participated. In February 2010, a coup d’etat put an end to the Tandja regime: the president was dismissed and arrested by a military junta led by Salou Djibo, who became president ad interim, it promised a return to democracy and new political elections. In the same year, Niger, Mauritania, Mali and Algeria set up a coordination structure to combat organized crime and terrorism. In March 2011 Mahamadou Issoufou won the presidential elections, defeating former premier Seyni Oumarou, close to former president Tandja.