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. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.

Since the creation of the Fifth Republic in 1999, the political rivalries and parties of the Third Republic have maintained their central role in national politics. There continue to be three large parties, and several smaller ones, with no single party gaining a majority in the National Assembly of Niger. In the Third Republic a coalition of the CDS and PNDS was formed with many small parties, in part to keep the former military party of the MNSD out of power. This coalition collapsed in recriminations in 1995, leading to a PNDS and MNSD government facing a CDS President. The bad blood and gridlock which resulted was one of the reasons given for General Maïnassara's 1996 Nigerien coup d'etat.

The same three men who dominated the parties in the Third Republic returned in 1999: Mamadou Tanja for the MNSD-Nassara, Mahamadou Issoufou of the PNDS, and Mahamane Ousmane of CDS-Rahama.

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