13 Facts About Mahamane Ousmane

Mahamane Ousmane was the first democratically elected president of his country, serving from 16 April 1993 until he was deposed in a military coup d'etat on 27 January 1996.

Mahamane Ousmane has continued to run for president in each election since his ouster, and he was president of the National Assembly from December 1999 to May 2009.

In September 1993 Mahamane Ousmane issued a decree that reduced the powers of the prime minister; the resignation of prime minister Mahamadou Issoufou soon followed, along with the withdrawal of his party, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, from the governing coalition.

Tensions continued to escalate, and Mahamane Ousmane made clear his intention to dissolve the parliament and call new elections after the passing of one year.

Mahamane Ousmane gave his support to Tandja, and Tandja defeated Issoufou to win the second round.

Mahamane Ousmane was elected to the National Assembly from Zinder constituency, and on 29 December 1999, he was elected President of the National Assembly.

Mahamane Ousmane was elected as the president of the Interparliamentary Committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union on 9 March 2003, at its 12th session, and he was re-elected to that post at the 13th session in March 2004.

Mahamane Ousmane was elected as the president of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on 15 January 2004.

Mahamane Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate at the party's fifth extraordinary congress, held on 18 September 2004.

On 14 November 2006, Mahamane Ousmane was elected as Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, defeating another Nigerien politician, Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye, by a vote of 58 to 37.

Mahamane Ousmane was to lead the regional parliament's second legislature through a four-year transition period, which was set to end in 2010.

Mahamane Ousmane stressed that the CDS wanted the constitution to be respected and that Tandja "must submit himself to the decision of the Constitutional Court", which had ruled against the referendum.

Mahamane Ousmane was again chosen as the CDS presidential candidate for the February 2011 elections.