Niger – Presidential and legislative elections (update)

Presidential and legislative elections were held in Niger on 31 January. The official results are as follows. The turnout was 51.56%.

The second round will be contested between the following candidates:

Mahamadou Issoufou (Parti nigérien pour la démocratie et le socialisme – PNDS-Tarayya), 36.16%
Seïni Oumarou (Mouvement national pour la société de développement – MNSD-Nassara), 23.22%
The MNSD-Nassara is the party of ousted autocrat Tandja Mamadou.

The other results were:

Hama Amadou (Mouvement démocratique nigérien pour une fédération africaine – MODEN/FA Lumana), 19.81%
Mahamane Ousmane (Convention démocratique et sociale – CDS-Rahama), 8.32%
Cheiffou Amadou (Rassemblement démocratique et social – RSD-Gaskiya), 4.08%
Moussa Djermakoye (l’Alliance nigérienne pour la démocratie et le progrès – ANDP-Zaman Lahiya), 3.93%
Issouffou Ousmane Oubandawaki (l’Alliance pour le renouveau démocratique), 1.92%
Amadou Boubacar Cissé (l’Union pour la démocratie et la république), 1.6%
Amadou Traoré (Independent) 0.53%
Bayard Mariama (Independent) 0.38%

My understanding is that Hama Amadou agreed to support Seïni Oumarou in the event that he (Amadou) came third. However, Hama Amadou has since announced that he will support Mahamadou Issoufou. In all likelihood, the result of the second round will be close. This will be a severe test for Niger’s democracy.

The same point can be made following the legislative election, which produced the following seat distribution:

PNDS-Tarayya 39
MNSD-Nassara 26
Moden/FA Lumana 24
ANDP-Zaman Lahiya 8
RDP-Jama’a 7
UDR-Tabbat 6
CDS-Rahama 2
Union des nigériens indépendants 1
Total 113

The result means that any president will have to rely on a coalition. For dispassionate observers, the Niger case may well provide another test as to whether semi-presidentialism facilitates power-sharing or whether it generates competition within the executive. That said, party loyalties are likely to be fluid. So, these figures are liable to change once parliament meets and over the course of the legislature.

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