Nigerien Party For Democracy and Socialism - Third Republic

Third Republic

In the country's first multiparty presidential election, held in February 1993, the leader of the PNDS, Mahamadou Issoufou, took third place, with 15.92% of the vote, in the first round; in the parliamentary election, also held in February, the PNDS won 13 out of 83 seats in the National Assembly. The party won five of these 13 seats in Tahoua Department, where Issoufou is from. As part of a coalition called the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC), the PNDS backed Mahamane Ousmane of the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS) in the second round of the presidential election, held in March, and Ousmane was victorious over Tandja Mamadou of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD). In the National Assembly, the PNDS formed part of the AFC majority, and Issoufou was appointed prime minister.

In a 21 September 1994 decree, Ousmane strengthened his powers at the expense of those of the prime minister, and Issoufou resigned on 28 September. The PNDS was unwilling to put forward another candidate to take Issoufou's place and withdrew from the AFC, thereby depriving the AFC of its parliamentary majority. The PNDS then formed an alliance with the opposition MNSD despite its history of hostility toward that party; Adji Kirgam and Mazou Ibrahim, two PNDS leaders who opposed this alliance, were expelled from the party.

The loss of the AFC's majority led to a new parliamentary election in January 1995. In this election, the MNSD-PNDS alliance, together with two minor groups, gained a majority of seats in the National Assembly; the PNDS won 12 seats. Hama Amadou of the MNSD became prime minister while Issoufou became President of the National Assembly. This situation involved cohabitation between the new government and President Ousmane, and intense rivalry developed between them. In January 1996, the military under Ibrahim Bare Mainassara seized power.