General elections were held in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

running for re-election for a second term. There were two main opposition candidates also vying for the top post,

Seyni Oumarou Seyni Oumarou (born 9 August 1951

of the MNSD, who lost to Issoufou in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, and

Hama Amadou Hama Amadou (born 1949) 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 20 ...

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. Niger faced a string of attacks by various insurgents, most notably

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

in the preceding months, and security and poverty alleviation were central to most candidates' campaigns. Various observers predicted minor violence from the opposition who accused the president of rigging the elections. Issoufou placed first in the first round, but fell just short of an outright majority, necessitating a second round vote in which he faced Hama Amadou. The opposition boycotted the second round, and Issoufou was re-elected with an overwhelming majority (92.49%).

Electoral system

The President of Niger was elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. The 171 members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

were elected by two methods; 158 members were elected from eight multi-member constituencies based on the seven

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

and

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

. Additionally, eight seats are reserved for national minorities and five seats (one per continent) for Nigeriens living abroad, all elected in single-member constituencies by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

Presidential candidates

Mahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

, the incumbent President, ran for a second term. He was designated as the candidate of his party, the

Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (french: Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme, PNDS-Tarayya) is a political party in Niger. It is a broadly left-leaning party, part of the Socialist International, and since 2011 it ...

(PNDS), on 7 November 2015. *

Seyni Oumarou Seyni Oumarou (born 9 August 1951

, former Prime Minister (2007–2009), was designated as the candidate of the

National Movement for the Development of Society The National Movement for the Development of Society (french: Mouvement National pour la Société du Développement, MNSD-Nassara) is a political party in Niger. Founded under the military government of the 1974–1990 period, it was the ruling ...

(MNSD) on 29 November 2015. *

Amadou Cissé Amadou Boubacar Cissé (born 1948
, ''Afrique Express'', December 21, 1996 .) is a

Union for Democracy and the Republic. *

Abdou Labo Abdou Labo is a Nigerien politician and a member of the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS-Rahama). He briefly served in the government of Niger as Minister of Defense from 1994 to 1995, and under President Mamadou Tandja he held a succession of ...

was designated as the candidate of the

Democratic and Social Convention The Democratic and Social Convention - Rahama (french: Convention démocratique et sociale-Rahama, CDS-Rahama) is a political party in Niger. History It was founded in January 1991. In the February 1993 parliamentary elections the party won 22 ...

(CDS) on 14 November 2015. *

Mahamane Ousmane Mahamane Ousmane (born 20 January 1950), press release no. 179, is a Nigerien politician. He was the first democratically elected and fourth President of Niger, serving from 16 April 1993, U.S. Department of State. until he was deposed in a mili ...

, former president (1993–1996), candidate for the Nigerien Movement for Democratic Renewal (MNDR). *

, former prime minister (1995–1996, 2000–2007), returned from exile on 14 November 2015, planning to stand as the presidential candidate of his party, the

Nigerien Democratic Movement for an African Federation The Nigerien Democratic Movement for an African Federation (french: Mouvement démocratique nigérien pour une fédération africain, MODEN/FA-Lumana) is a political party in Niger, led by Hama Amadou. History The party was established on 12 M ...

, but he was immediately arrested upon arrival at the airport in Niamey in connection with the allegations of involvement in baby-trafficking that had led him to flee into exile in 2014. On 9 January 2016, it was announced that the Constitutional Court had cleared 15 candidates to run. All of the major candidates were approved, including Hama Amadou, who was still in jail over charges that he alleged were politically motivated, and Abdou Labo, who was not imprisoned but was also facing charges related to the baby-trafficking investigation. One minor candidate, Abdoul-Karim Bakasso, was barred from running on the grounds that he had not submitted a medical certificate. An appeals court refused Amadou's request to be released on 11 January. Speaking through his lawyer, Amadou said afterward that he was a political prisoner and would not pursue any further appeal.

Results

President

Provisional results released on 26 February 2016 showed President Issoufou with about 48% of the vote, falling just short of a first round majority. Imprisoned opposition leader Hama Amadou placed second with 17.8% of the vote. With no candidate winning an outright majority, a second round was planned to be held on 20 March 2016. Although Amadou received a much smaller percentage of the first round vote, most of the other major opposition candidates were expected to support him in the second round. Speaking on behalf of COPA 2016, the opposition coalition supporting Amadou, Seyni Oumarou (who placed third and backed Amadou for the second round), announced on 8 March that the coalition was boycotting the vote and withdrawing its representatives from the electoral commission. Hassoumi Massaoudou, the Minister of the Interior, said in response that the second round vote would be held regardless of whether the opposition participated. Noting that some of the first round candidates had backed Issoufou, Massaoudou argued that the opposition "withdrew to avoid being beaten". Nevertheless, Amadou's lawyer said on 11 March that he would still be a candidate. Subsequent events were dominated by Amadou's health problems. After a medical crisis in which he was said to have briefly lost consciousness, he was moved from the prison in Filingue to

; he was then taken to Paris for treatment on 16 March. COPA again called for a boycott on 18 March. The second round was held on 20 March 2016 amidst an opposition boycott. Given the boycott, results announced on 22 March showed an unsurprisingly large victory for President Issoufou, who was credited with 92.5% of the vote. Turnout was placed at 60%. Meanwhile, on 22 March COPA denounced the election as fraudulent and rejected the results, saying that Niger would "have no legitimate president" after Issoufou's first term ended.

National Assembly

In the parliamentary election, parties supporting Issoufou won a majority, with 118 out of 171 seats in the National Assembly."Niger opposition boycotts meeting of new parliament"
Agence France-Presse, 24 March 2016.Mathieu Olivier
"Niger : l’opposition boycotte la séance inaugurale de la nouvelle Assemblée nationale"
''Jeune Afrique'', 24 March 2016 .

Reactions

Domestic

Opposition parties rejected the partial election results released by the electoral commission, claiming discrepancies between the declared results and their own tallies.

Amadou Cissé Amadou Boubacar Cissé (born 1948
, ''Afrique Express'', December 21, 1996 .) is a

Union for Democracy and the Republic candidate, challenged the results and accused the government for creating "thousands of polling stations" to skew the outcome.

International

* African Union – The African Union team of 40 observers was satisfied with the electoral process of the first round of elections despite all the logistical delays.

Aftermath

When the National Assembly began meeting for its new term on 24 March 2016, the opposition deputies boycotted it.

Ousseini Tinni Ousseini Tinni (born 10 December 1954) is a Nigerien politician of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism. He was President of the National Assembly from 25 March 2016 until 23 March 2021. Career Tinni was born in Tinoma, in the Dosso R ...

, a PNDS Deputy, was elected as President of the National Assembly on 25 March 2016. With the opposition absent, Tinni received 109 votes in favor and six against, with three abstentions. The Niamey Court of Appeal issued an order for the "provisional release" of Amadou on 29 March 2016, although by that point he had already been out of the country for nearly two weeks. On 30 March 2016, the Constitutional Court validated the results and formally declared that Issoufou was re-elected for a second term. Final results showed Issoufou with 92.51% and Amadou with 7.49%, while turnout was placed at 59.80%. On 2 April 2016, Issoufou was sworn in and reappointed

Brigi Rafini Brigi Rafini (born 7 April 1953) is a Nigerien politician who served as the Prime Minister of Niger from 2011 to 2021. A native of Iférouane in Agadez Region and an ethnic Tuareg,