National Movement for the Development of Society
Encyclopedia
The National Movement for the Society of Development - MNSD (1989-1991)/ MNSD-Nassara (1991-) is a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Niger
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...

. 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 called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD) ousted the president, Tandja Mamadou
Tandja 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...

.

Under military rule

The MNSD was founded in 1989 by President Ali Saibou
Ali Saibou
Ali Saibou was the third President of Niger from 1987 to 1993 succeeding the deceased Seyni Kountché.A member of the Djerma people, he was born in Dingajibanda, a village in the Ouallam arrondissement. Although from Kountché's home village, Saibou is not a cousin...

, as the only legal party in the country. However, by the end of 1990, the Saibou regime acquiesced to union and student demands to institute a multi-party democratic system.

Second Republic

In 1991, two factions emerged within the MNSD, one behind Tandja Mamadou
Tandja 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...

 (MNSD-Nassara) and the other behind Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye
Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye
Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye was a Nigerien politician and the President of the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress...

, both of whom had been important figures in the regime of Seyni Kountché
Seyni Kountché
Seyni Kountché was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. He ruled the country as military head of state from 1974 to 1987...

. At a party congress in March 1991, Saibou retained his position as President of the MNSD, but at another congress held in November 1991, Tandja was elected as MNSD President, while 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...

 was elected as its Secretary-General. Tandja's obtaining of the party leadership over Djermakoye marked a departure from the traditional dominance of the party by Djermakoye's Zarma (Djerma) ethnic group. Djermakoye split from the MNSD and formed his own party, the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress
Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress
The Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress is a political party in Niger. Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye led the party from its foundation in the early 1990s until his death in 2009.- Second Republic :...

 (ANDP).

Third Republic

Tandja was the MNSD candidate in the 1993 presidential election and received first place in the first round, but lost in the second round to Democratic and Social Convention
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) candidate Mahamane Ousmane
Mahamane Ousmane
Mahamane Ousmane is a Nigerien 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...

; losing candidates from the first round, whose parties had formed the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC) with the CDS, backed Ousmane. Although the MNSD won 29 seats in the February 1993 parliamentary election, more than any other party, it was in opposition after the election because the AFC parties held a majority of seats. However, the MNSD won the January 1995 parliamentary election, in alliance with 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), which had previously been hostile to the MNSD, and smaller parties; the MNSD itself again won 29 seats. 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...

 of the MNSD then became Prime Minister, in 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...

 with President Ousmane. The cohabitation was marked by sharp rivalry between Amadou and Ousmane, and in January 1996 the military, led by 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.

Fourth Republic

Tandja ran unsuccessfully again in the July 1996 presidential election; he received third place with 15.65% of the vote, after Maïnassara and Ousmane. Along with other opposition parties, grouped together as the Front for the Restoration and Defense of Democracy, the MNSD boycotted the November 1996 parliamentary election.n

Fifth Republic

Another coup in April 1999 led to new elections late in the year, and the MNSD won the presidential election
Nigerien presidential election, 1999
A presidential election was held in Niger in late 1999, with the first round on October 17 and a second round, coinciding with a parliamentary election, on November 24. The election followed a coup d'état on April 9, 1999, in which Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, who had led an earlier coup in January...

, with Tandja as its candidate; he defeated Mahamadou Issoufou
Mahamadou 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...

 of 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) 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
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:...

, 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
Mahamadou 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...

 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.

President Tandja

As President, Tandja had to give up his position as party leader. Hamidou Sékou acted as interim leader until Hama Amadou, previously the party's secretary-general, was elected as President of the MNSD in December 2001.

2004 presidential election

In the presidential election
Niger presidential election, 2004
The Republic of Niger held a presidential election on 16 November 2004. Voter turnout in this round of polling was 48.3%. It was won by Tandja Mamadou.-Candidates:Six candidates contested the election:...

 of 16 November and 4 December 2004, Tandja won 40.7% of the vote in the first round and 65.5% in the second round, defeating Mahamadou Issoufou
Mahamadou 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...

 of the PNDS to win re-election. In the 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...

, held on 4 December 2004, the MNSD won 37.2% of the popular vote and 47 out of 113 seats.

2007 government fall, 2008 internal divisions

Amadou's government was defeated in a no-confidence vote on 31 May 2007, and in early June Seyni Oumarou
Seyni Oumarou
Seyni Oumarou is a Nigerien politician who was Prime Minister of Niger from June 2007 to September 2009 and President of the National Assembly of Niger from November 2009 to February 2010. He is from the west of the country and is a member of the Djerma ethnic group...

, also a member of the MNSD, was appointed by Tandja as Amadou's successor.

Amadou was arrested for alleged embezzlement in June 2008. Serious tensions between supporters of Amadou, the MNSD President, and Tandja, the President of the Republic, subsequently developed, and supporters of the two sides traded accusations.

Party leadership

Despite a split in the party, jailed former prime minister Hama Amadou retained the Presidency of the MNSD with his supporter Habi Mahamadou Salissou
Habi Mahamadou Salissou
Habi Mahamadou Salissou is a Nigerien politician and a former Secretary-General of the centre-right National Movement for the Development of Society...

 as its Secretary-General.

Despite ongoing support for Amadou from sections of the MNSD, especially from his political base in Tillabery, Amadou was stripped of the formal leadership of the ruling party in early 2009.

A special congress of the MNSD-Nassara held in Zinder
Zinder
Zinder is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000...

 on 21 February 2009 replaced Hama as President of the party with his successor as Prime Minister, Oumarou. Minister of Interior Albadé Abouba
Albadé Abouba
Albadé Abouba is a Nigerien politician who has been the Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society since 2009. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2010...

 was voted Secretary General of the party. This result came despite months of wrangling between pro-Tanja and pro-Amadou elements in the party that have threatened to split the MNSD, and saw pro Amadou groups join opposition protests against a floated plan to extent Tanja's term past the 2009 elections.
On 26 April 2009, the Political Bureau of MNSD-Nassara decided to expel eight party members, including five deputies to the national assembly for "indicipline". These were Deputies Soumana Sanda, Issaka Hassane Djégoulé, Amadou Soumana ("Belko"), Hadiza Moussa Gros and Seydou Tahirou Mayaki, as well as three party members Seyni Mounkaïla, Ladan Tchana and former Political Bureau member Oumarou Dogari. All were supporters of Hama Amadou. According to Soumana Sanda, this was because of their support for the former Prime Minister. On 14 May, the National Assembly of Niger
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:...

 admitted five replacement deputies, chosen by the ruling party: Abdoulaye Koro, Abdoulaye Morou, Soumana Kangaye, Amadou Saidou, and Amina Ali.

See also

  • List of political parties in Niger
  • Politics of Niger
    Politics of Niger
    Politics of Niger takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Niger is head of state and the Prime Minister of Niger head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government...

  • Constitution of Niger
    Constitution of Niger
    The Republic of Niger has had seven constitutions, two substantial constitutional revisions, and two periods of rule by decree since its independence from French colonial rule in 1960...

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