Mamadou Tandja

Tandja was born in Maïné-Soroa, French West Africa in 1938, in the south-eastern part of what is now Niger.

After joining the Nigerien army and rising to the rank of colonel, he participated in the 1974 coup that brought Seyni Kountché to power and became a member of the Supreme Military Council.

He became Prefect of Maradi in 1976 before being appointed to the government as Minister of the Interior on 10 September 1979; he remained in the latter position until being replaced by Kountché himself on 31 August 1981.

He was then Prefect of Tahoua from 1981 to March 1988, Ambassador to Nigeria from June 1988 to March 1990 and Minister of the Interior again from March 1990 to March 1991.

He was President of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD's presidential candidate in 1993 and 1996 before being elected to his first term in 1999.

In 1991, Tandja emerged as the head of one of two powerful factions in the ruling National Movement of the Development Society (Mouvement National pour la Societé de Développement, MNSD) and at a party congress held in November 1991, he was elected as MNSD President.

Tandja's obtaining of the party leadership over rival faction leader Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye marked a departure from the traditional dominance of the party by Djermakoye's Zarma (Djerma) ethnic group.

Tandja ran for President in the elections of 1993, taking first place in the first round in February with 34.22% of the vote, but then losing to Mahamane Ousmane in the second round in March, taking 45.58% of the vote.

Tandja accepted the results and congratulated Ousmane.

Tandja participated in an opposition protest against the government of the Alliance of the Forces of Change ruling coalition on 16 April 1994 and was arrested along with 90 others.

Ousmane was overthrown in a military coup led by Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara on 27 January 1996.

Under Maïnassara, a new presidential election was held on 7–8 July 1996, in which Tandja ran again; this time he took third place with 15.65% of the vote, behind Maïnassara with about 52% and Ousmane with about 20%, according to official results.

On the second day of polling he was placed under house arrest along with the other three opposition candidates and held for two weeks.

Niger was heavily in debt and was not receiving any foreign aid due to the 1996 coup and subsequent suspension of democratic institutions.

Tandja focused on economic development, negotiating with the civil service unions and with foreign donors.

Many did not approve of Tandja's measures in reducing government spending.

Following a pro-democracy demonstration on 11 January 1997, Tandja was arrested along with Ousmane and former Prime Minister Mahamadou Issoufou and held until 23 January.

In April 1999, Maïnassara was assassinated and a new military government led by Major Daouda Malam Wanké took over.

This junta promised a return to democracy within the year, and the elections were held in October and November.

Tandja won the presidential election, receiving first place, with 32% of the vote, in the first round, and 59.89% in the second round, defeating Issoufou.

Tandja received the backing of Ousmane in the second round.

The MNSD also won the most seats in the parliamentary election in November 1999 and Tandja himself was elected to the National Assembly as an MNSD candidate from Diffa constituency, although due to his concurrent election as President his seat was filled by his substitute, Nassourou Samaila.

He took office as President on 22 December 1999.

As in 1999, Mahamadou Issoufou took second place, and he participated in a runoff with Tandja on 4 December.

Tandja was re-elected in the second round with 65.53% of the vote, with Issoufou receiving the remaining 34.47%.

All four of the defeated first round candidates supported Tandja in the second round.

He was sworn in for his second term on 21 December at a ceremony at the Général Seyni Kountché Stadium in Niamey, which was attended by six other African presidents.

He appointed Hama Amadou as Prime Minister in January 2000.

In 2001, students at the University of Niamey staged violent protests against the reduction of their government grants.

On 31 July 2002, some soldiers in Diffa started a mutiny demanding pay and improved living conditions; this briefly spread to Niamey a few days later.

Loyalists defeated the mutineers and restored peace by 9 August, but Tandja came under political fire for his decrees blocking communication about the rebellion.

Tandja was a candidate for re-election in the 2004 presidential election.

In the first round of the election, held on 16 November, he took first place with 40.7% of the vote, the rest being divided between five opponents.

While serving as President of Niger, he was also Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States from 2005 to 2007.

Tandja was of mixed Fula and Soninke ethnicity.

He was the first President of Niger who was not ethnically Hausa or Djerma.

Although there had been speculation about a possible constitutional change to enable Tandja to run again in 2009, he said in an interview with Le Monde, published on 6 October 2007, that he intended to step down at the end of his second term.

However, on 21 December 2008, a large rally was held in front of the National Assembly building in Niamey calling for an extension of Tandja's term by three years, so that it would end on 22 December 2012.

Following a constitutional crisis in 2009, which was caused by Tandja's efforts to remain in office beyond the originally scheduled end of his term, he was ousted by the military in a coup d'état on 18 February 2010.

Mamadou Tandja (1938 – 24 November 2020) was a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010.