Parliamentary elections were held in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesPresident President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and an opposition coalition with a majority in 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 repre ...

and the post of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. The ensuing stalemate was a contributing factor to the coup that overthrew the regime on 27 January 1996.

Background

The elections were prompted by the fall of the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC) government, after 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 h ...

(PNDS-Tarayya) party of Prime Minister

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 ...

moved from the ruling coalition into opposition. President

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 ...

appointed

Souley Abdoulaye Souley Abdoulaye (born 1965) is a Nigerien politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Niger from 28 September 1994Nancy Ellen LawlerNiger: Year in Review 1994 Britannica.com. to 8 February 1995. He later served in the government under Preside ...

as Prime Minister, but he resigned on 16 October 1994 after failing to create a new ruling coalition which could stand up to a confidence vote in the Assembly. Ousmane called a new election for the National Assembly.

Results

The electoral landscape remained largely unchanged from the 1993 elections. MNSD-Nassara won a plurality of votes, and with its new parliamentary ally and third-place finisher—the

—forming a parliamentary bloc of 41 of the 83 seats, opposed to 38 seats held by the remaining AFC coalition members. The addition of three smaller parties added four seats, assuring a majority of 45.Niger: Elections held in 1995
International Parliamentary Union

Aftermath

The new National Assembly resulted in a divided government ("

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

") with the opposition forming the new ruling coalition, and the

MNSD-Nassara 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 ...

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 200 ...

becoming Prime Minister. This finally reversed the unstable post-dictatorship alliance of the AFC, which had been based upon keeping the MNSD, the former military government party, out of power. The center-right MNSD and the left PNDS formed an otherwise unlikely alliance based on each's conflict with the President.Jibrin Ibrahim and Abdoulayi Niandou Souley
"The rise to power of an opposition party: the MNSD in Niger Republic"
Unisa Press, Politeia, Vol. 15, No. 3, 1996. The inability of the president and this new government to work together resulted in government gridlock. This was one of the stated reasons for the 27 January 1996 Nigerien coup d'état which brought the military government of

Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara General Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (May 9, 1949 – April 9, 1999) was a military officer and diplomat in Niger who ruled the country from his seizure of power in 1996 until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999. Baré Maïn ...

to power.Kaye Whiteman
"Obituary: Ibrahim Bare Mainassara"
''The Independent'', 12 April 1999.

References

{{Nigerien elections Elections in Niger

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages1995 in Niger Election and referendum articles with incomplete results