This is the history of Niger. See also the history of Africa and the history of West Africa.
Niger is a landlocked nation in West Africa located along the border between the Sahara and Sub-Saharan regions. Its geographic coordinates are longitude 16°N and latitude 8°E. Its area is 1.267 million square kilometers, of which 1 266 700 km² is land and 300 km² water, making Niger slightly less than twice the size of France.
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.
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 (MNSD-Nassara) from 1991 to 2001 and President of the MNSD-Nassara from 2001 to 2009. Amadou is from the Kurtey, a Fula sub-group, and was raised in the Tillaberi Region, in the Niger River valley, north of Niamey.
Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) 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 (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD's presidential candidate in 1993 and 1996 before being elected to his first term in 1999. While serving as President of Niger, he was also Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States from 2005 to 2007.
Elections in Niger take place within the framework of a semi-presidential system. The President and National Assembly are elected by the public, with elections organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).
Hamani Diori was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, he gained international respect for his role as a spokesman for African affairs and as a popular arbitrator in conflicts. His rule ended with a coup in 1974.
The National Movement for the Development of Society 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 called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD) ousted the president, Mamadou Tandja.
The Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally is a political party in Niger. It was the leading political party of the pre-independence era, becoming the sole legal party of the First Republic (1960–1974). It was led by Niger's first President, Hamani Diori. After the end of military rule, the party reappeared as a minor parliamentary party led by Diori's son, Abdoulaye Hamani Diori.
Kalla Ankourao is a Nigerien politician. A member of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), he was Minister of Public Health from 1995 to 1996 and Minister of Equipment from 2011 to 2012.
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. The current "Seventh Republic" operates under the Constitution of 2010.
The Union of Popular Forces for Democracy and Progress-Sawaba is a political party in Niger, founded as the Nigerien Democratic Union in 1954. The original party, founded by Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN) co-leader Djibo Bakary when he was expelled from the PPN. In the mid-1950s it created a broad coalition led by urban leftists but forged of conservative rural notables, especially from Hausa areas, which dominated the nascent Nigerien independence movement. In this period it was renamed Mouvement Socialiste Africain-Sawaba, and then simply Sawaba. In pushing for complete independence from France in a 1958 referendum, the party fractured. At independence in 1960 it found itself in opposition and outlawed by Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. From exile, the party attempted an abortive guerrilla campaign in the mid-1960s, and then largely disappeared. Its leadership returned to Niger following the 1974 military coup, but soon found themselves arrested, in exile, or marginalised. Following the return of democracy in 1991, the now elderly Bakary re-founded the party as UDFP-Sawaba. In the 1993 elections it took only a small numbers of votes. Within the year the party had split, with a new faction (UDFR-Sawaba) joining the government coalition. Despite Bakary's death in 1998 and their continued electoral underachievement, both parties holding the Sawaba name continue.
The Cabinet of Niger is made up of the appointed heads of Niger's government Ministries. Ministers are chosen from the elected members of the National Assembly of Niger. According to the Constitution of 18 July 1999 the Prime Minister of Niger proposes the membership of the Council of Ministers, and the President of Niger appoints the Ministers, which is then authorized by the National Assembly. The Council of ministers meets at the discretion of the President, advises him on policy, and carries out the policies he orders. The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister of Niger, who is put forward by the National Assembly, and accepted by the President. The Assembly may remove the Prime minister by a vote of no confidence.
Brigi Rafini is a Nigerien politician who has been Prime Minister of Niger since 2011. A native of Iférouane in Agadez Region and an ethnic Tuareg, Rafini was Minister of Agriculture in the late 1980s and Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger from 2004 to 2009. He was appointed as Prime Minister after Mahamadou Issoufou took office as President on 7 April 2011.
The Nigerien Action Bloc was a political party in Niger in 1955 and 1956 led by Issoufou Saïdou Djermakoye, a traditional chief and former chairman of the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN).
General elections were held in Niger on 31 January 2011 to elect the President and National Assembly, with a second round of the presidential elections on 12 March. The first round of the presidential elections was originally scheduled to be held on 3 January and the second round on 31 January, but was later postponed. The elections followed a military coup in February 2010 that ousted President Mamadou Tandja.
General elections were held in Niger on 21 February 2016, with a presidential run-off held on 20 March. A total of 15 candidates ran for the presidency, with incumbent President Mahamadou Issoufou running for re-election for a second term. There were two main opposition candidates also vying for the top post, Seyni Oumarou of the MNSD, who lost to Issoufou in 2011, and Hama Amadou of MODEN/FA, who has been campaigning from prison since November 2015. Most of the opposition agreed to align for the second round to back the second-placed candidate against Issoufou.
