Niger - 2016 Election
IOn 21 February 2016, the country held a first round of legislative and presidential elections in which incumbent President Issoufou Mahamadou won 48.4 percent of the vote in a field of 15 candidates. In the presidential elections, held in parallel with the parliamentary polls, the election commission announced that President Issoufou (PNDS) came first in the first round of voting, followed by former Speaker Amadou. Opposition parties claimed irregularities and massive fraud.
Previously, 23 opposition parties had formed the Coalition for the Alternative 2016 (COPA 2016) and agreed to back whichever opposition candidate made it to the second round, scheduled for 20 March. The COPA 2016 included the MODEN/FA-Lumana Africa and the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) - Nassara of former Prime Minister Seyni Omar.
On 7 March, the Constitutional Court validated the preliminary results of the first round. The following day, the COPA 2016 announced its withdrawal from the second round of presidential elections, accusing the Constitutional Court of a lack of impartiality and independence. It demanded that parliamentarians representing parties in the COPA 2016 cease all activities in the National Assembly.
On 20 March, President Issoufou was re-elected with 92 percent of the vote in the run-off elections. Runner-up Hama Amadou - who spent the majority of the election season in prison on fraud charges he claimed were politically motivated - received 8 percent of the vote.
Amadou’s supporters boycotted the runoff, citing complaints including lack of media access. Observers from the African Union declared the election generally free and fair, despite numerous irregularities and Amadou’s imprisonment. A coalition led by the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) backed Issoufou and won 118 of 171 National Assembly seats in the legislative elections. The opposition MODEN-FA Lumana party won 25 seats, and the National Movement for the Development of Society won 20 seats. PNDS party member Brigi Rafini retained his post as prime minister.
Mahamadou Issoufou was sworn in 02 April 2016 to a second five-year term after being re-elected in a run-off vote that was boycotted by the opposition. With his hand on the Koran, Issoufou took the oath of office at a ceremony in Niamey attended by thousands of people including nine African heads of state. "On March 20, the people made their choice in a calm vote and renewed their confidence in me for a second mandate," Issoufou said in his speech, referring to the poll results that gave him 92 percent of the votes cast.
But the run-off election was marred by low turnout as the opposition called for a boycott because their candidate Hama Amadou, who since November was in jail over shadowy baby-trafficking charges, was flown to France for unspecified medical treatment just four days before the vote.
President Mahamadou Issoufou's Niger Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS Tarayya) led the Movement for the Renaissance of Niger (MRN), a 22-party pro-presidential alliance. The MRN includes the Patriotic Movement for the Republic (MPR-Jamhuriya), formed by former MNSD Secretary General Albadé Abouba in October 2015. The PNDS Tarayya and its allies won a total of 108 seats, securing a majority in the enlarged 171-member National Assembly. In accordance with the organic law gazetted in November 2015 (Loi organique n°2014-71), the statutory number of members of the National Assembly has increased from 113 to 171. In October 2014 a modification to the 2000 electoral law (loi n° 2000-008) raised the gender quota, requiring the percentage of candidates-elect of each sex be more than 15%, as opposed to 10% previously.
The Niger Democratic Movement for an African Federation (MODEN/FA-Lumana Africa), led from prison by the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Hama Amadou, came a distant second. Amadou was arrested in November 2015 on his return from exile in France over his alleged role in a baby-trafficking scandal, an allegation he strongly denies and insists is politically motivated. Delays at polling stations caused voting to be extended by an extra day. During the election campaign, the major parties focused on economic and social development, promotion of democracy and the rule of law.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou confirmed 12 October 2020 he did not plan to seek a third term in December's presidential vote. "The elections will be free and transparent," he vowed, insisting on the importance of having "strong democratic institutions".
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