The Democratic and Social Convention - Rahama (french: Convention démocratique et sociale-Rahama, CDS-Rahama) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesFebruary 1993 parliamentary elections the party won 22 of the 83 seats 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 ...

, finishing second to 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 ...

(MNDS). In the subsequent

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

, CDS-Rahama leader

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 ...

was elected president, defeating the MNSD'

Mamadou Tandja Mamadou Tandja (1938 – 24 November 2020) was a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD ...

. In 1995 Ousmane called early

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, which saw it gain two seats, but remain the second largest party behind the MNSD. In January 1996 he was ousted in a coup. In

held in July that year, Ousmane finished second to coup leader

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 ...

. The party boycotted the

later that year. Since 1999, the CDS has been in an alliance with the MNSD, forming part of the parliamentary majority and participating in the government; it did not nominate a presidential candidate in the 1999 general elections, but won 17 seats in the National Assembly, which Ousmane became President of. In the 2004 general elections, Ousmane was the CDS presidential candidate for the fourth time, finishing third with 17.4% of the vote. In the parliamentary elections, the party received 17.4% of the popular vote and won 22 of the 113 seats. Following the election, the MNSD resumed its coalition government with CDS-Rahama, whose 22 seats give the President and Prime Minister a 69-seat majority in the National Assembly, with Ousmane re-elected as President of the National Assembly."President of the National Assembly of Niger Mahamane Ousmane Elected President of the IPU Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians"
Inter-Parliamentary Union, press release no. 179, 15 January 2004. The CDS held its sixth congress on 1 September 2007. On 25 June 2009, after President of Niger

dismissed the National Assembly over his plans to hold a constitutional referendum, the CDS announced its final break with the MNSD government. The party withdrew from the government coalition and pulled its eight members from the

Nigerien Council of Ministers The Cabinet of Niger (officially referred to as the Council of Ministers of the Republic 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. ...

.Niger president's main ally quits the government
AFP. 25 June 2009. In a statement, the CDS demanded the President definitively submit to the Court's decision. The party also announced the creation of its own opposition coalition, the Movement for the Defence of Democracy (MDD) along with around five smaller parties including the UDR and the PDP. The group was in direct competition with the larger opposition front, the Front for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) led by the PNDS, and staged the two anti-referendum marches in Niamey.Tandja's main ally quits government
The Independent (South Africa)/ Sapa/AFP. 25 June 2009. The party boycotted the October 2009 parliamentary elections. Following a 2010 coup, it ran in the 2011 general elections; Ousmane finished fourth in the presidential ballot with 8% of the vote, whilst the party won only three seats in the National Assembly. In the 2016 general elections the party nominated

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 ...

as its presidential candidate; he finished seventh in a field of fifteen candidates with 2% of the vote. In the National Assembly elections, the party retained its three seats.

References

{{Authority control Political parties in Niger 1991 establishments in Niger Political parties established in 1991