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Rally for Democracy and Progress (Niger)


The Rally for Democracy and Progress (French: Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et le Progrès, RDP-Jama'a) is a political party in Niger. It was established as the ruling party during the presidency of Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara.

The National Union of Independents for Democratic Renewal (UNIRD) was established in 1996 to support Maïnassara in that year's presidential elections. UNIRD went on to win the parliamentary elections later in the year. However, the following year it was dissolved and replaced by the RDP-Jama'a. At the RDP's national congress, Hamid Algabid was elected leader of the RDP-Jama'a on 20 August 1997.

After Maïnassara was assassinated in a coup in April 1999, a new transitional military regime held elections late in the year. One faction of the RDP chose Algabid as its candidate for the general elections, while another backed party vice-chairman Amadou Cissé. The dispute went to the Court of State, which accepted Algabid's candidacy. The dispute led to the Cissé faction breaking away to form the Union for Democracy and the Republic. In the elections, Algabid finished fourth out of seven candidates in the first round with 10.83% of the vote, and backed Mahamadou Issoufou of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) in the second round. However, some in the RPD disagreed with this decision and backed Tandja Mamadou of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) instead. Tandja won the second round against Issoufou. In the parliamentary elections the RDP won eight seats in the National Assembly, and following the elections, went into opposition along with the PNDS.


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