Sanoussi Jackou
Encyclopedia
Sanoussi Tambari Jackou (born 1940) is a Niger
ien politician and the President of the Nigerien Party for Self-Management (PNA-Al'ouma). He was Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger
from 1993 to 1994 and served in the government as Minister of State for Higher Education, Research, Technology, and African Integration later in the 1990s. He was a Deputy in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2010.
, located in what is now the Dakoro Department
of Maradi Region. His father was a high caste Tuareg while his mother was Hausa
. He worked in the civil service
beginning in 1970.
Following a failed coup attempt against the regime of Seyni Kountché
on March 15, 1976, Jackou was arrested on March 20. He was imprisoned for over 11 years; following Kountché's death, he was released on November 23, 1987. He returned to the civil service in March 1988.
(CDS-Rahama). He was elected to the National Assembly in the February 1993 parliamentary election
as a CDS candidate in Maradi constituency. Following this election, he served as Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger
from 1993 to 1994.
During the rule of Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
, Jackou joined the government as Minister of State for Higher Education, Research, Technology, and African Integration. As a result, he was expelled from the CDS, of which he had been the deputy leader; he formed a new party, the PNA-Aloumat, in early 1997, allying himself with President Baré. In April 1998, however, he broke with Baré, who was killed during a coup d'état one year later.
, and Jackou was an opposition leader without representation in the National Assembly for the next five years. In the December 2004 parliamentary election
, Jackou was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate in Maradi constituency; he was the only PNA-Aloumat candidate to win a seat. During the 2004–2009 parliamentary term, Jackou was part of the opposition, participating in the parliamentary group of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism
(PNDS). He also served as President of the Economic Affairs and Planning Commission in the National Assembly during that parliamentary term.
In addition to running for a seat in the National Assembly, Jackou also ran for a seat on the municipal council of Dakoro in 2004.
Jackou was one of 14 deputies who filed a censure motion against the government of Prime Minister Hama Amadou
on May 26, 2007. Amadou's government was subsequently defeated in a no-confidence vote on May 31. Jackou also opposed the election of Seyni Oumarou
to replace Amadou.
Like the leaders of the PNDS, Jackou was outspoken in his condemnation of attempts to extend President Mamadou Tandja's term beyond December 2009, when it was originally scheduled to end. At a rally on 22 December 2008 in Niamey, Jackou called such attempts a "nightmarish" "coup d'état" by the government's supporters.
, which was boycotted by the major opposition parties. In an August 2009 interview, Jackou explained that the PNA-Aloumat decided to participate because doing so was necessary "to ensure the survival of our party"; he said that participation in elections was essential to the purpose of a political party and that he had no interest in leading a party that did not take part in elections. He cited the example of the opposition boycott of the 1996 parliamentary election
, which he said was a mistake. Despite his decision to participate in the election, Jackou said in the same interview that his party was not breaking with the broader opposition. Regarding the August 2009 constitutional referendum
, Jackou said that he supported the move to a presidential system
of government, noting that he had long favored such a system, but he was critical of other constitutional changes; he said that the proposed Senate would serve no meaningful legislative purpose and would only delay legislation, while wasting money.
Standing as a PNA-Aloumat candidate, Jackou was re-elected to the National Assembly in October 2009; he was again the only PNA-Aloumat candidate to win a seat. The National Assembly began meeting for the new parliamentary term on November 14, and Jackou presided over the initial meetings due to his status as the oldest Deputy in the National Assembly. In his opening speech, Jackou described the new National Assembly as the best one Niger had ever had, while he also stressed the importance of the National Assembly's work: "We have no margin for error. We are true representatives of the people and we face enormous challenges." Although customary practice would have the oldest deputy (the président du bureau d'âge) presiding for only a very brief time before the National Assembly elected a President to lead its work, Jackou said that, because a new constitution had been promulgated since the previous parliamentary term, it was first necessary for the National Assembly to formulate and adopt new internal regulations that would fit the new constitutional structure. Consequently, nine deputies, including Jackou, were chosen to sit on an ad hoc technical committee that was tasked with formulating the new internal regulations.
The resulting draft of the National Assembly's internal regulations was adopted by a unanimous vote. Jackou presided for the last time on November 25, 2009, when the deputies unanimously elected Seyni Oumarou as President of the National Assembly. Oumarou praised Jackou for the "diligence" he showed in presiding over the initial meetings. Shortly thereafter, when the National Assembly's permanent commissions were established, Jackou was again designated as President of the Economic Affairs and Planning Commission.
In the local elections held on 27 December 2009, Jackou was elected as a municipal councillor in Dakoro. On 18 February 2010, President Tandja was ousted in a military coup d'état
. A junta called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy
(CSRD) took power and immediately dissolved the National Assembly, along with other state institutions.
Jackou supported the candidacy of Mahamadou Issoufou
in the second round of the January–February 2011 presidential election
, declaring that "the time has come for Mahamadou Issoufou to lead Niger". Issoufou won the election; after he took office as President, he appointed Jackou as Special Adviser to the President, with the rank of Minister, on 20 April 2011.
In a 2007 televised debate, he warned that the parliamentary opposition also opposed the Tuareg rebels of the MNJ: "I say this to the insurgents: watch out, the forces of democracy are not with you as they were in the 1990s."
Jackou has been outspoken in criticism of the lack of punishment for those who killed President Baré in the April 1999 coup.
As a deputy from a small party, Jackou has been active in voting reform legislation, supporting the introduction of a single ballot for the 2009 elections, but also proposing the scraping of rules requiring French language
ability among candidates, and supporting national single lists for some Assembly seats.
Jackou supported a controversial 2008 pay raise for deputies, which was opposed by civil society groups. He argued that the level of compensation was reasonable when compared to that received by parliamentarians in neighboring countries.
In December 2004, Jackou was again arrested for "arousing ethnic hatred" during his appearance on a radio talk show, only to be released on 9 January 2005.
Jackou in April 2005 served as a mediator between civil society groups led by the Coalition for Quality and Fairness Against Costly Living, protesting consumption tax rises, and the government.
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 and the President of the Nigerien Party for Self-Management (PNA-Al'ouma). He was Vice-President of 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:...
from 1993 to 1994 and served in the government as Minister of State for Higher Education, Research, Technology, and African Integration later in the 1990s. He was a Deputy in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2010.
Early life and civil service career
Jackou was born in KornakaKornaka
-References:...
, located in what is now the Dakoro Department
Dakoro Department, Niger
Dakoro is a department of the Maradi Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Dakoro....
of Maradi Region. His father was a high caste Tuareg while his mother was Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
. He worked in the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
beginning in 1970.
Following a failed coup attempt against 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...
on March 15, 1976, Jackou was arrested on March 20. He was imprisoned for over 11 years; following Kountché's death, he was released on November 23, 1987. He returned to the civil service in March 1988.
Political career during the 1990s
In the early 1990s, Jackou was a founding member of the Democratic and Social ConventionDemocratic 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-Rahama). He was elected to the National Assembly in the February 1993 parliamentary election
Nigerien parliamentary election, 1993
Parliamentary elections were held in Niger on 14 February 1993. They followed the constitutional changes approved in a referendum the previous year, which re-introduced multi-party democracy...
as a CDS candidate in Maradi constituency. Following this election, he served as Vice-President of 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:...
from 1993 to 1994.
During the rule of 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....
, Jackou joined the government as Minister of State for Higher Education, Research, Technology, and African Integration. As a result, he was expelled from the CDS, of which he had been the deputy leader; he formed a new party, the PNA-Aloumat, in early 1997, allying himself with President Baré. In April 1998, however, he broke with Baré, who was killed during a coup d'état one year later.
Fifth Republic
The PNA-Aloumat won no seats in the 1999 parliamentary electionNigerien parliamentary election, 1999
Parliamentary elections were held in Niger on 24 November 1999, co-inciding with the second round of the presidential elections. The vote for the first parliament of the Fifth Republic, which had originally been scheduled for October, but delayed in August, saw a victory for the National Movement...
, and Jackou was an opposition leader without representation in the National Assembly for the next five years. In 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...
, Jackou was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate in Maradi constituency; he was the only PNA-Aloumat candidate to win a seat. During the 2004–2009 parliamentary term, Jackou was part of the opposition, participating in the parliamentary group 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). He also served as President of the Economic Affairs and Planning Commission in the National Assembly during that parliamentary term.
In addition to running for a seat in the National Assembly, Jackou also ran for a seat on the municipal council of Dakoro in 2004.
Jackou was one of 14 deputies who filed a censure motion against the government of 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...
on May 26, 2007. Amadou's government was subsequently defeated in a no-confidence vote on May 31. Jackou also opposed the election of 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...
to replace Amadou.
Like the leaders of the PNDS, Jackou was outspoken in his condemnation of attempts to extend President Mamadou Tandja's term beyond December 2009, when it was originally scheduled to end. At a rally on 22 December 2008 in Niamey, Jackou called such attempts a "nightmarish" "coup d'état" by the government's supporters.
Sixth Republic
Jackou and the PNA-Aloumat chose to participate in the October 2009 parliamentary electionNigerien 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:...
, which was boycotted by the major opposition parties. In an August 2009 interview, Jackou explained that the PNA-Aloumat decided to participate because doing so was necessary "to ensure the survival of our party"; he said that participation in elections was essential to the purpose of a political party and that he had no interest in leading a party that did not take part in elections. He cited the example of the opposition boycott of the 1996 parliamentary election
Nigerien parliamentary election, 1996
Parliamentary elections were held in Niger on 23 November 1996. They followed the constitutional changes approved in a referendum earlier in the year, which re-introduced multi-party democracy following a military coup...
, which he said was a mistake. Despite his decision to participate in the election, Jackou said in the same interview that his party was not breaking with the broader opposition. Regarding 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...
, Jackou said that he supported the move to a presidential system
Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
of government, noting that he had long favored such a system, but he was critical of other constitutional changes; he said that the proposed Senate would serve no meaningful legislative purpose and would only delay legislation, while wasting money.
Standing as a PNA-Aloumat candidate, Jackou was re-elected to the National Assembly in October 2009; he was again the only PNA-Aloumat candidate to win a seat. The National Assembly began meeting for the new parliamentary term on November 14, and Jackou presided over the initial meetings due to his status as the oldest Deputy in the National Assembly. In his opening speech, Jackou described the new National Assembly as the best one Niger had ever had, while he also stressed the importance of the National Assembly's work: "We have no margin for error. We are true representatives of the people and we face enormous challenges." Although customary practice would have the oldest deputy (the président du bureau d'âge) presiding for only a very brief time before the National Assembly elected a President to lead its work, Jackou said that, because a new constitution had been promulgated since the previous parliamentary term, it was first necessary for the National Assembly to formulate and adopt new internal regulations that would fit the new constitutional structure. Consequently, nine deputies, including Jackou, were chosen to sit on an ad hoc technical committee that was tasked with formulating the new internal regulations.
The resulting draft of the National Assembly's internal regulations was adopted by a unanimous vote. Jackou presided for the last time on November 25, 2009, when the deputies unanimously elected Seyni Oumarou as President of the National Assembly. Oumarou praised Jackou for the "diligence" he showed in presiding over the initial meetings. Shortly thereafter, when the National Assembly's permanent commissions were established, Jackou was again designated as President of the Economic Affairs and Planning Commission.
In the local elections held on 27 December 2009, Jackou was elected as a municipal councillor in Dakoro. On 18 February 2010, President Tandja was ousted in a military coup d'état
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...
. A junta called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy
Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy
The Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy , led by Salou Djibo, is a military junta that staged a coup in Niger on 18 February 2010, deposing President Mamadou Tandja...
(CSRD) took power and immediately dissolved the National Assembly, along with other state institutions.
Jackou supported the candidacy 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...
in the second round of the January–February 2011 presidential election
Nigerien presidential election, 2011
The Republic of Niger held a presidential election on 31 January 2011. The first round was to be held on January 3 and the second round on January 31, but those dates were postponed to 31 January 2011 and 12 March 2011...
, declaring that "the time has come for Mahamadou Issoufou to lead Niger". Issoufou won the election; after he took office as President, he appointed Jackou as Special Adviser to the President, with the rank of Minister, on 20 April 2011.
Policy positions
Jackou, whose father was Tuareg and mother Hausa, has taken special interest in Nigerien Tuaregs conflicts with other groups. He was quoted in 2005 castigating deputies for covering up the continued existence of slavery in the nation and claiming some deputies kept slaves.In a 2007 televised debate, he warned that the parliamentary opposition also opposed the Tuareg rebels of the MNJ: "I say this to the insurgents: watch out, the forces of democracy are not with you as they were in the 1990s."
Jackou has been outspoken in criticism of the lack of punishment for those who killed President Baré in the April 1999 coup.
As a deputy from a small party, Jackou has been active in voting reform legislation, supporting the introduction of a single ballot for the 2009 elections, but also proposing the scraping of rules requiring French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
ability among candidates, and supporting national single lists for some Assembly seats.
Jackou supported a controversial 2008 pay raise for deputies, which was opposed by civil society groups. He argued that the level of compensation was reasonable when compared to that received by parliamentarians in neighboring countries.
Press owner
Jackou also owns a weekly newspaper based in Niamey, La Roue de l'Histoire. On 18 May 2002, he was arrested, along with the paper's publisher, for comments criticizing Prime Minister Hama Amadou, as well as comments directed at Minister of Trade Seini Oumarou. Jackou was eventually sentenced to a four month suspended sentence, a 100,000 CFAF fine, and the paper was forced to pay 2 million CFAF damages to the two officials.In December 2004, Jackou was again arrested for "arousing ethnic hatred" during his appearance on a radio talk show, only to be released on 9 January 2005.
Jackou in April 2005 served as a mediator between civil society groups led by the Coalition for Quality and Fairness Against Costly Living, protesting consumption tax rises, and the government.