Niger - Post-Independence Politics
Hamani Diori (1960-1974)
Niger gained independence in August 1960. Hamani Diori, prime minister since December 1958, was elected president in November 1960, while his Nigerien Progressive Party became the single party. His rival Bakary Djibo, whose Sawaba party was dissolved, exile and seeks to launch an armed uprising, without success. Hamani Diori was re-elected in September 1965 and October 1970.
Hamani Diori was with Leopold Sedar Senghor, Habib Bourguiba and Sihanouk, one of the founding fathers of the Francophonie. This was what created in Niamey in March 1970 the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation, including the International Organization of la Francophonie was the heir.
Seyni Kountché (1974-1987)
In April 1974, in a context of food crisis due to recurrent droughts, Hamani Diori was overthrown by the army supreme military council led by Lieutenant Colonel Seyni Kountché. Including denouncing the corruption of the previous government, he suspended the constitution. The opposition was banned and repressed.
Despite promises of economic recovery, rising uranium prices was not sufficient to offset the effects of declining groundnut during and subsequent periods of drought, leading the country to submit to an adjustment program structural. The plan must also face the rising tensions among the Tuareg. Occasional clashes in May 1985 to Tchintabaraden.
Seyni Kountché gradually opened the way for abandoning the regime of exception. In January 1983, he appointed a civilian, Mamane Oumarou, as prime minister. In August 1983, he set up a national transitional council. In June 1987, a national charter was adopted by referendum.
Saïbou Ali (1987-1993)
Seyni Kountché died in November 1987. He was replaced by Colonel Ali Saïbou. It creates in August 1988 a single party, the National Movement for Development Society. The constitution of September 1989 adopted by referendum, enshrines the single party, and Ali Saïbou was elected president the following December.
He must quickly deal with the Tuareg rebellion that broke out in May 1990. Finding its source in the return of tens of thousands of Tuareg of Algeria and Libya, drawn by the so-called policy of easing Ali Saïbou, it was triggered by the violent suppression of a riot in Tchintabaraden. She first led by a unified movement, the Aïr Liberation Front and Azawak, which calls for the creation of a federal state and the northern regions of autonomy, before bursting into several movements, including Toubou groups and go out thanks to the Ouagadougou agreements of April 1995, Algiers in November 1997 and August 1998 Ndjamena.
Meanwhile, Ali Saïbou faces demands for democratization in February 1990. After a phase of repression, it authorizes a multiparty system in November 1990 and accepts the holding from July to November 1991, a national conference. This reduces the prerogatives of the President of the Republic, refers to a transitional Prime Minister, Amadou Cheiffou, and a High Council of the Republic under the direction of André Salifou. In January 1993, a new constitution was adopted which establishes a semi-presidential system.
Mahamane Ousmane and Ibrahim Bare Mainassara (1993-1999)
The elections that follow relate to the presidency Mahamane Ousmane, whose party, the Democratic and Social Convention, does not meet the majority alone. He must share power with Mahamadou Issoufou of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, who became prime minister, and Moumouni Djermakoye of Niger Alliance for Democracy and Progress, elected President of the National Assembly. But the coalition does not and Mahamadou Issoufou was allied in September 1994 in the former single party. Refusing to appoint a prime minister from the new majority, Mahamane Ousmane causes it loses elections in January 1995.
Hama Amadou, General Secretary of the Niger Movement for Development Company, becomes Prime Minister and President Mahamadou Issoufou of the National Assembly. The conflicting cohabitation ensuing causes a new intervention of the army in January 1996. Colonel Ibrahim Bare Mainassara takes the head of a national salvation council and promises the return of power to civilians. A new constitution was adopted in May 1996.
Ibrahim Bare Mainassara was elected president at the end of a manipulated election. In a tense political climate, he was assassinated in April 1999 by the presidential guard. Its commander Daouda Malam Wanke, leads a transition process. A new constitution was adopted in July 1999, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections in October and November 1999.
Mamadou Tandja and Salou Djibo (1999 - 2011)
Mamadou Tandja, the candidate of the National Movement for Development Society, was elected president of the Republic, and his party won the elections. Renewed in November 2004, he was facing a recurring social protest and the resurgence of the Tuareg rebellion. In February 2007, the Niger Movement for Justice claims several armed actions. But the troubles are terminated in April 2009, following the crackdown by the Nigerian army and mediation of Muammar Gaddafi.
After dissolving the National Assembly and have assumed full powers, Mamadou Tandja organized in August 2009 a constitutional referendum, which he won, to extend by three years the mandate and delete the existing two-term limit. The opposition denounced a constitutional coup and refused to participate in parliamentary elections in October 2009. The European Union stopped its cooperation and the Economic Community of West African States suspended Niger. In February 2010, the army intervenes and constitutes a Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, led by Squadron Leader Djibo. A new constitution was adopted by referendum in October 2010.
Mahamadou Issoufou (since 2011)
In January 2011, parliamentary elections give a majority in the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, and in March 2011 Mahamadou Issoufou was elected president with 58% against 42% in Seyni Oumarou, the Niger Movement for development company.
To govern, Mahamadou Issoufou combines with Hama Amadou, now head of his own party, the Nigerien Democratic Movement, who became president of the National Assembly. Mahamadou Issoufou appointed to head the government Brigi Rafini responsible for implementing the program of the presidential renaissance, which results in particular in the development of economic and social development plan.
The coalition government broke out in favor of a government reshuffle in August 2013 and Hama Amadou, who went into exile in France following a court case, was replaced in December 2013 by Amadou Salifou. The opposition was represented by the Nigerian Democratic Movement, the National Movement for Development Society and the Democratic and Social Convention. The next presidential and legislative elections were scheduled for in February and March 2016.
In January 2015, the publication of new Mohammed cartoons in the weekly Charlie Hebdo, following the attack which it has been subjected, causes violent protests in several cities in Niger, including Niamey and Zinder. The toll was ten dead, about fifty Christian places of worship were burned and looted drinking establishments. The Franco-Niger Cultural Centre in Zinder was partially destroyed by fire.
In February 2015, Mahamadou Issoufou topped the first round of the presidential election with 48% of the vote, against 18% in Hama Amadou, imprisoned since returning to Niger in November 2014, and 12% Seyni Oumarou. The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism won the legislative elections, winning 75 seats out of 171. With his allies, he had an absolute majority. The opposition called for a boycott of the second round, and in March, Mahamadou Issoufou was re-elected for another term with 92% of votes, against 8% in Hama Amadou. security situation.
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