Fifth Republic
Another coup in April 1999 led to new elections late in the year, and the MNSD won the presidential election, with Tandja as its candidate; he defeated Mahamadou Issoufou of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) in the second round, taking 59.89% of the vote. The MNSD also won the most seats in the parliamentary election, taking 38 out of 83, and in alliance with the CDS it gained a parliamentary majority. Amadou became Prime Minister again. While the MNSD-Nassara has consistently failed to garner the 57 seats needed for majority in the National Assembly of Niger, they have consistently won a plurality of seats. With the parliamentary support of smaller parties, such as the third largest CDS-Rahama (22 seats in 2004), MNSD-Nassara has maintained a working majority in the National Assembly since 1999. Its only large rival is the PNDS-Tarayya of Mahamadou Issoufou whose coalition list of 25 seats in 2004 was just over half of the ruling party's 47 seats. In the presidential elections of 2004, every candidate except who fell at the first round supported Tanja against Issoufou in the second.
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