NIGER

      Keys events

1958 (18 December)

Niger becomes an autonomous republic. Diori Hamani is designated as President by the Constituent Assembly.

1960 (3 August)

Independence of Niger.

1965 (30 September)

Re-election of Diori Hamani as President of the Republic. He is the candidate of the single party, the Nigerien Progress Party – Democratic African Rally (PPN-RDA).

1965 (21 October)

Election of 50 members of the PPN-RDA to the National Assembly.

1970 (1 October)

Presidential and general elections. Re-election of Diori Hamani as President.

1974 (15 April)

Military coup d’état. Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché seizes power. Constitution suspended.

1976 (15 March)

Attempted coup d’état by Commander Bayère Moussa and Captain Sidi Mohammed.

1983 (24 January)

Creation of the post of Prime Minister. Oumarou Mamane appointed.

1983 (May)

Student strike.

1983 (6 October)

Attempted coup d’état by close collaborators of President Kountché.

1983 (14 November)

Ministerial reshuffle. Ahmid Algabid becomes head of the government in which civilians replace the members of the military.

1984 (17 April)

Liberation of ex-President Diori Hamani.

1987 (10 November)

Death of Seyni Kountché. Colonel Ali Saïbou is appointed President of the Supreme Military Council and Chief of the Nigerien State.

1988 (15 July)

Oumarou Mamane appointed Prime Minister.

1988 (2 August)

Creation of a single party, the National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD).

1989 (17 May)

Election of Ali Saïbou as President of the High Council of National Orientation (CSON), the new highest authority in the country.

1989 (24 September)

Adoption of the new Constitution by referendum.

1989 (10 December)

Ali Saïbou elected President of the Republic. Election of the 93 members of the National Assembly, all from the MNSD.

1990 (9 February)

Student demonstration. Repressed severely.

1990 (2 March)

Aliou Mahamidou is appointed Prime Minister.

1990 (May)

Clashes between Tuaregs and the army of Niger.

1990 (11 June)

General strike organised by the Confederation of the Unions of the Workers of Niger (USTN).

1990 (15 November)

Multipartyism introduced.

1991 (29 July-3 Nov.)

National Conference. It suspends the Constitution, elects Prof. André Salifou as the head of the High Council of the Republic, pronounces that Ali Saïbou should be maintained in office and appoints Amadou Cheffou Prime Minister for a transition period (1 November 1991 – 31 January 1993).

1992 (January)

Tuareg rebellion.

1992 (28/29Feb.)

Military mutiny.

1992 (26 December)

New Constitution adopted by referendum.

1993 (14 February)

General elections. 29 seats for the MNSD, fifty for the opposition grouped together into the “Alliance of Forces for Change” (AFC).

1993 (27 March)

Mahamane Ousmane elected President.

1993 (17 April)

Mahamadou Issoufou appointed Prime Minister.

1993 (14 May)

Moumouni Djermakoye elected Speaker of the National Assembly.

1994 (28 September)

Resignation of Moumouni Djermakoye. Replaced by Souley Abdoulaye.

1994 (9 October)

Peace agreement between the government and the Tuareg rebels.

1995 (12 January)

General elections.

1995 (7 February)

Amadou Cissé appointed Prime Minister.

1995 (21 February)

Amadou Cissé replaced by Hama Amadou.

1995 (24 April)

Signature of a peace agreement between the government and Tuareg rebels.

1996 (27 January)

Military coup d’état. General Barré Maïnassara seizes power. Presides over the Council for national salvation (CSN). Parliament dissolved, political parties suspended.

1996 (31 January)

Boukary Adji appointed Prime Minister. Forms a government entirely composed of civilians.

1996 (12 May)

Adoption of a new Constitution after a referendum (turnout of 30%).

1996 (20 May)

Ban on political parties lifted.

1996 (7 July)

General Maïnassara elected in the first round of the presidential election with 52.22% of the votes.

1996 (23 August)

Ministerial reshuffle: 11 people enter the government. The opposition is represented.

1996 (23 November)

General elections won by the movement of the President (69 seats out of 83). Elections boycotted by the opposition.

1996 (12 December)

Council of National Salvation Dissolved.

1997 (6 January)

Organisation of Armed Resistance (ORA), the largest of the dissident Tuareg fronts, agrees to join in the peace process again.

1997 (11 January)

First united demonstration by the opposition grouped together in the Front for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy.

1997 (Jan.-May)

Negotiations between government and opposition grind to a halt.

1997 (6 June)

Peace agreement signed with the rebel movement the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) under the aegis of the President of Chad, Idriss Déby.

1997 (August)

First recruitments of ex-Tuareg rebels in the army.

1997 (28 November)

Peace agreement signed in Algiers between the Nigerien government and rebels of the UFRA and FARS.

1998 (February)

Mutinies and strikes to demand payment of arrears on salaries.

1998 (23 March)

Vote by the National Assembly of an amnesty for Tuareg and Toubou rebels.

1998 (22 April)

The IMF approves the structural adjustment programme.

1998 (5 June)

The members of the UFRA give up their arms in application of the treaty of 24 April 1995.

1999 (9 April)

Assassination of President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara by his personal guard. The National Assembly is dissolved by the Prime Minister and the activities of political parties suspended.

1999 (11 April)

Commander Daouda Mallam Wanké, head of the Presidential Guards, is appointed Head of State by the Council of National Reconciliation (CRN). The Constitution is suspended and the main institutions dissolved. Ibrahim Hassan Mayaki remains Prime Minister.

1999 (18 July)

Adoption of a new Constitution.

1999 (24 November)

Presidential and general elections. Mamadou Tandja elected President of Niger with 59.9% of the votes. His party, the MNSD, obtains an absolute majority in the general elections.

2000 (3 January)

Hama Amadou becomes the new Prime Minister.

2000 (4 April)

Mahamadou Issoufou is confirmed in his position as President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).

2000 (1 November)

Creation of a High Court of Justice.

Update currently in preparation.

Sources used

Afrique contemporaine, quarterly review (La Documentation Française)

AFP Afrique: daily news bulletin from Africa –Agence France Presse

Press Files from the CEAN Document Centre.

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