Mahamane Ousmane
Encyclopedia
Mahamane Ousmane is a Niger
ien politician. He was the first democratically elected and fourth President of Niger, serving from 16 April 1993 until his ouster in a military coup d'état
on 27 January 1996. He has continued to run for President in each election since his ouster, and he was President of the National Assembly
from December 1999 to May 2009. He is the President of the Democratic and Social Convention-Rahama
(CDS), a major political party that is currently in opposition.
of the National Movement for the Development of Society
(MNSD); however, with the backing of a coalition of parties known as the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC), Ousmane won the presidency in the second round, held on March 27, taking 54.42%.
soon followed, along with the withdrawal of his party, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism
(PNDS), from the governing coalition. This left the coalition without a parliamentary majority; despite this, Ousmane appointed his CDS ally Souley Abdoulaye
as prime minister, but the parliament quickly passed a vote of no confidence against Abdoulaye. Consequently, new parliamentary elections were called for January 1995. These elections resulted in a victory for the opposition, composed of a new alliance between the MNSD and the PNDS, and forced cohabitation
between Ousmane and a government headed by MNSD Prime Minister Hama Amadou
. This resulted in sharp rivalry and government deadlock; beginning in April, Ousmane refused to attend meetings of the Council of Ministers although he was constitutionally required to do so, and in July Amadou replaced the heads of state-owned companies, a move which Ousmane wanted to be reversed. Amadou also tried to assume the presidential role with regard to the Council of Ministers. Tensions continued to escalate, and Ousmane made clear his intention to dissolve the parliament and call new elections after the passing of one year (he was constitutionally prohibited from doing so sooner).
On 27 January 1996, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
seized power in a military coup, pointing to the disordered political situation as justification. Ousmane was arrested and held at a military barracks for five days; he was then placed under house arrest until April 24, as were Amadou and Issoufou. In February, Ousmane was put on television, along with Amadou and Issoufou, to express the view that flaws in the operation of the political system were the cause of the coup, and to call for changes in the system.
Ousmane took third place, with 22.51% of the vote, in the October 1999 presidential election, which occurred after the assassination of Maïnassara; he placed slightly behind second-place finisher Issoufou and therefore did not participate in the run-off held in November. Ousmane gave his support to Tandja, and Tandja defeated Issoufou to win the second round.
The November 1999 parliamentary election gave a majority to an alliance of Tandja's MNSD and Ousmane's CDS. Ousmane was elected to the National Assembly from Zinder constituency, and on December 29, 1999, he was elected President of the National Assembly.
Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate at the party's fifth extraordinary congress, held on September 18, 2004. He took third place in the November 2004 presidential election, receiving 17.4% of the vote. Following the December 2004 parliamentary election
, Ousmane was re-elected President of the National Assembly on December 16.
On November 14, 2006, Ousmane was elected as Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, defeating another Nigerien politician, Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye
, by a vote of 58 to 37. He was to lead the regional parliament's second legislature through a four-year transition period, which was set to end in 2010. In that position, he faced the task of coordinating the processes that would facilitate the introduction of direct universal suffrage in the election of members of the Parliament.
Objecting to Tandja's efforts to call a referendum on a constitutional change that could allow him to continue as President, the CDS left the government in June 2009. Ousmane stressed that the CDS wanted the constitution to be respected and that Tandja "must submit himself to the decision of the Constitutional Court", which had ruled against the referendum.
In opposition, the CDS participated in an opposition boycott of the August 2009 constitutional referendum
as well as the October 2009 parliamentary election
. With the hostility between the opposition and the Tandja government deepening, the authorities issued a warrant for Ousmane's arrest; they also issued arrest warrants for PNDS President Mahamadou Issoufou and former Prime Minister Hama Amadou. Ousmane was living outside of Niger by that point. Following talks with officials from the European Union
on 8 December 2009, Prime Minister Ali Badjo Gamatie
announced that the arrest warrants were suspended to facilitate dialogue with the opposition. Ousmane said on 10 December that the move was encouraging, but that it was also necessary for the government to release those who he characterized as political prisoners. However, the arrest warrants were reactivated two weeks later, diminishing hopes for further dialogue. The government warned that Ousmane and the other opposition leaders would face arrest if they entered Niger.
Tandja was ousted in a military coup
on 18 February 2010. That made it possible for Ousmane to return to Niger without being arrested, and he "arrived discreetly" on a flight from Abuja
on 24 March 2010.
Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate for the February 2011 elections. He was unsuccessful in returning to the presidency again; this time coming in fourth place with 8.2% of the vote.
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
ien politician. He was the first democratically elected and fourth President of Niger, serving from 16 April 1993 until his ouster in a military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
on 27 January 1996. He has continued to run for President in each election since his ouster, and he was President of the National Assembly
National Assembly of Niger
The unicameral National Assembly of Niger is the country's sole legislative body. The National Assembly may propose laws and is required to approve all legislation.-History:...
from December 1999 to May 2009. He is the President of the Democratic and Social Convention-Rahama
Democratic and Social Convention
The Democratic and Social Convention - Rahama is a political party in Niger. It was founded in January 1991. In the 1993 presidential election, the party's leader, Mahamane Ousmane, was elected president...
(CDS), a major political party that is currently in opposition.
1993 Presidential election
Ousmane, the candidate of the CDS, ran for President in the election held on February 27, 1993. He received second place, with 26.59% of the vote, behind Tandja MamadouTandja Mamadou
Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Tandja is a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement of the Development Society from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD's presidential candidate in 1993 and 1996 before being elected to his...
of the National Movement for the Development of Society
National Movement for the Development of Society
The National Movement for the Society of Development - MNSD / MNSD-Nassara is a political party in Niger. Founded under the military government of the 1974-1990 period, it was the ruling party of Niger from 1989 to 1993 and again from 1999 until a coup on February 18, 2010, by a military junta...
(MNSD); however, with the backing of a coalition of parties known as the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC), Ousmane won the presidency in the second round, held on March 27, taking 54.42%.
Presidency
During the first part of Ousmane's term, the AFC, which included Ousmane's party, held a parliamentary majority. In September 1994, however, Ousmane issued a decree that reduced the powers of the prime minister; the resignation of prime minister Mahamadou IssoufouMahamadou Issoufou
Mahamadou Issoufou is a Nigerien politician who has been President of Niger since 7 April 2011. Previously he was Prime Minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994 and President of the National Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and he has stood as a candidate in each presidential election since 1993.Issoufou...
soon followed, along with the withdrawal of his party, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism
Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism
The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism is a political party in Niger. It is a broadly left-wing party, part of the Socialist International; since 2011 it has been in power following the election of its long-time leader, Mahamadou Issoufou, as President of Niger. Mohamed Bazoum is Acting...
(PNDS), from the governing coalition. This left the coalition without a parliamentary majority; despite this, Ousmane appointed his CDS ally Souley Abdoulaye
Souley Abdoulaye
Souley Abdoulaye is a Nigerien politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Niger from 28 September 1994 to 8 February 1995. He later served in the government under President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara as Minister of Transport from 1996 to 1997 and then as Minister of the Interior, in charge of...
as prime minister, but the parliament quickly passed a vote of no confidence against Abdoulaye. Consequently, new parliamentary elections were called for January 1995. These elections resulted in a victory for the opposition, composed of a new alliance between the MNSD and the PNDS, and forced cohabitation
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
between Ousmane and a government headed by MNSD Prime Minister Hama Amadou
Hama Amadou
Hama Amadou is a Nigerien politician who was Prime Minister of Niger from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2007. He was also Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society from 1991 to 2001 and President of the MNSD-Nassara from 2001 to 2009...
. This resulted in sharp rivalry and government deadlock; beginning in April, Ousmane refused to attend meetings of the Council of Ministers although he was constitutionally required to do so, and in July Amadou replaced the heads of state-owned companies, a move which Ousmane wanted to be reversed. Amadou also tried to assume the presidential role with regard to the Council of Ministers. Tensions continued to escalate, and Ousmane made clear his intention to dissolve the parliament and call new elections after the passing of one year (he was constitutionally prohibited from doing so sooner).
On 27 January 1996, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was a military officer in the West African country of Niger who seized power in a January 1996 coup d'état and ruled the country until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999....
seized power in a military coup, pointing to the disordered political situation as justification. Ousmane was arrested and held at a military barracks for five days; he was then placed under house arrest until April 24, as were Amadou and Issoufou. In February, Ousmane was put on television, along with Amadou and Issoufou, to express the view that flaws in the operation of the political system were the cause of the coup, and to call for changes in the system.
1996 and 1999 elections
Ousmane received second place, with 19.75% of the vote, in the July 7–8, 1996 presidential election, which was won by Maïnassara; on the second day of polling he was again placed under house arrest and was freed after two weeks. Following a pro-democracy demonstration on 11 January 1997, Ousmane was arrested along with Tandja and Issoufou and held until 23 January.Ousmane took third place, with 22.51% of the vote, in the October 1999 presidential election, which occurred after the assassination of Maïnassara; he placed slightly behind second-place finisher Issoufou and therefore did not participate in the run-off held in November. Ousmane gave his support to Tandja, and Tandja defeated Issoufou to win the second round.
The November 1999 parliamentary election gave a majority to an alliance of Tandja's MNSD and Ousmane's CDS. Ousmane was elected to the National Assembly from Zinder constituency, and on December 29, 1999, he was elected President of the National Assembly.
Events since 1999
Ousmane was elected as the President of the Interparliamentary Committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union on March 9, 2003, at its 12th session, and he was re-elected to that post at the 13th session in March 2004. He was also elected as the President of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on January 15, 2004.Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate at the party's fifth extraordinary congress, held on September 18, 2004. He took third place in the November 2004 presidential election, receiving 17.4% of the vote. Following the December 2004 parliamentary election
Nigerien parliamentary election, 2004
A parliamentary election was held in Niger on 4 December 2004 alongside a simultaneous presidential election. 105 members were elected in 8 multi-member constituencies using the party-list proportional representation system...
, Ousmane was re-elected President of the National Assembly on December 16.
On November 14, 2006, Ousmane was elected as Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, defeating another Nigerien politician, Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye
Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye
Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye was a Nigerien politician and the President of the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress...
, by a vote of 58 to 37. He was to lead the regional parliament's second legislature through a four-year transition period, which was set to end in 2010. In that position, he faced the task of coordinating the processes that would facilitate the introduction of direct universal suffrage in the election of members of the Parliament.
Objecting to Tandja's efforts to call a referendum on a constitutional change that could allow him to continue as President, the CDS left the government in June 2009. Ousmane stressed that the CDS wanted the constitution to be respected and that Tandja "must submit himself to the decision of the Constitutional Court", which had ruled against the referendum.
In opposition, the CDS participated in an opposition boycott of the August 2009 constitutional referendum
Nigerien constitutional referendum, 2009
A constitutional referendum was held in Niger on 4 August 2009. The purpose of the referendum was to submit to Nigerien voters the dissolution of the Fifth Republic of Niger and the creation of a "Sixth Republic of Niger" under a fully presidential system of government...
as well as the October 2009 parliamentary election
Nigerien parliamentary election, 2009
A parliamentary election was held in Niger on 20 October 2009, in the wake of President Mamadou Tandja's dissolution of the National Assembly in May 2009 and a successful constitution referendum in August 2009.-Election date:...
. With the hostility between the opposition and the Tandja government deepening, the authorities issued a warrant for Ousmane's arrest; they also issued arrest warrants for PNDS President Mahamadou Issoufou and former Prime Minister Hama Amadou. Ousmane was living outside of Niger by that point. Following talks with officials from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
on 8 December 2009, Prime Minister Ali Badjo Gamatie
Ali Badjo Gamatié
Ali Badjo Gamatié is a Nigerien politician and civil servant who served as Prime Minister of Niger from October 2009 to February 2010. He was Finance Minister of Niger from 2000 to 2003 and then served as Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of West African States before being appointed as Prime...
announced that the arrest warrants were suspended to facilitate dialogue with the opposition. Ousmane said on 10 December that the move was encouraging, but that it was also necessary for the government to release those who he characterized as political prisoners. However, the arrest warrants were reactivated two weeks later, diminishing hopes for further dialogue. The government warned that Ousmane and the other opposition leaders would face arrest if they entered Niger.
Tandja was ousted in a military coup
2010 Nigerien coup d'état
A coup d'état occurred in Niger on 18 February 2010. Soldiers attacked the presidential palace in Niamey under weapons fire at midday and captured President Mamadou Tandja, who was chairing a government meeting at the time...
on 18 February 2010. That made it possible for Ousmane to return to Niger without being arrested, and he "arrived discreetly" on a flight from Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
on 24 March 2010.
Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate for the February 2011 elections. He was unsuccessful in returning to the presidency again; this time coming in fourth place with 8.2% of the vote.