Hamid Algabid is a Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

ien politician and the President of the Rally for Democracy and Progress

Rally for Democracy and Progress (Niger)

The Rally for Democracy and Progress is a political party in Niger. It was established as the ruling party during the presidency of Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara.-Under second military regime and Fourth Republic:...

 (RDP-Jama'a) party. A lawyer, banker, and technocrat, Algabid was an important figure in the regime of Seyni Kountché

Seyni Kountché

Seyni Kountché was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. He ruled the country as military head of state from 1974 to 1987...

, serving as Prime Minister of Niger from 1983 to 1988. He was Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference

Organisation of the Islamic Conference

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Upon the groups's renaming, some sources provided the English-language translation "Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation", but and have since indicated the preferred English translation omits the "the". is an international organisation consisting of 57...

 (OIC) from 1989 to 1996, and since 1997 he has been President of the RDP-Jama'a. He is also currently the President of the High Council of Territorial Collectivities (HCCT).

Early life

A member of the Tuareg ethnic group born to a noble family, Algabid was born in the small settlement of Belbedji, near Tanout

Tanout

Tanout is a town in southern Niger. It is in Zinder Region, Tanout Department, north of the city of Zinder. It is the administrative capital of Tanout Department....

. He studied law at the University of Abidjan and later at the IIAP in Paris, where he received his Law degree. He was made a head of department under the Ministry of External Finance from 1971 to 1973, and he was promoted to the position of Secretary-General of Finance in 1973.

Under the military government

Following the April 1974 coup d'état

1974 Nigerien coup d'état

The 1974 Nigerien coup d'état was a largely bloodless military insurrection which overthrew the first postcolonial government of the West African nation of Niger...

 led by General Seyni Kountché

Seyni Kountché

Seyni Kountché was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. He ruled the country as military head of state from 1974 to 1987...

, Algabid remained in his post as Secretary-General of Finance until 1979. During that time he also was appointed as country administrator of ECOWAS Central Bank (1975–76) and then country administrator of the Islamic Development Bank

Islamic Development Bank

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development financing institution located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was founded by the first conference of Finance Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference , convened 23 Dhu'l Qa'dah 1393 AH.The bank officially began its activities on...

 (1976–79). On September 10, 1979, he was appointed to the government as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. He served in that post until he was promoted to the position of Minister of Trade on February 9, 1981; subsequently his portfolio was expanded when he was appointed as Minister of Trade and Transport on June 14, 1982. Algabid was then named Deputy Minister for Finance on January 24, 1983 before being appointed as Prime Minister

Heads of government of Niger

-List of Heads of Government of Niger:-Affiliations:-See also:*Niger*List of colonial heads of Niger*Heads of State of Niger*Lists of Incumbents-References:*...

 on 14 November 1983. He served as Prime Minister until 15 July 1988.

Second and Third Republics

From 1989 to 1996, Algabid was Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference

Organisation of the Islamic Conference

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Upon the groups's renaming, some sources provided the English-language translation "Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation", but and have since indicated the preferred English translation omits the "the". is an international organisation consisting of 57...

 (OIC). In December 1996, he was nominated as a candidate to become Secretary-General of the United Nations, a post which was won by Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

.

Under Maïnassara

During the rule of Nigerien President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara

Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara

Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was a military officer in the West African country of Niger who seized power in a January 1996 coup d'état and ruled the country until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999....

, Algabid returned to politics in Niger. On August 20, 1997, he was named President of the RDP-Jama'a, which was established as Maïnassara's ruling party, at the party's national congress. Later, Algabid also became head of the Convergence for the Republic (CPR), a pro-Maïnassara coalition composed of 15 parties, which was formed in August 1998.

Fifth Republic

Maïnassara was assassinated in April 1999, and a military regime scheduled a new presidential election

Nigerien presidential election, 1999

A presidential election was held in Niger in late 1999, with the first round on October 17 and a second round, coinciding with a parliamentary election, on November 24. The election followed a coup d'état on April 9, 1999, in which Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, who had led an earlier coup in January...

 for late in the year. Algabid ran as the RDP-Jama'a candidate in this election; although Amadou Cissé

Amadou Cissé

Amadou Boubacar Cissé is a Nigerien politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Niger on two occasions, from 8 to 21 February 1995 and again from 21 December 1996 to 27 November 1997...

, the RDP's Vice-President, also attempted to run as the RDP candidate, the Court of State approved Algabid's candidacy and rejected Cissé's candidacy on 3 September. In the first round of the election, held on 17 October, Algabid placed fourth out of seven candidates, winning 10.83% of the vote. On 6 November, Algabid announced his support for Mahamadou Issoufou

Mahamadou Issoufou

Mahamadou Issoufou is a Nigerien politician who has been President of Niger since 7 April 2011. Previously he was Prime Minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994 and President of the National Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and he has stood as a candidate in each presidential election since 1993.Issoufou...

, the candidate of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism

Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism

The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism is a political party in Niger. It is a broadly left-wing party, part of the Socialist International; since 2011 it has been in power following the election of its long-time leader, Mahamadou Issoufou, as President of Niger. Mohamed Bazoum is Acting...

, in the second round; Issoufou was defeated by Tandja Mamadou

Tandja Mamadou

Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Tandja is a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement of the Development Society from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD's presidential candidate in 1993 and 1996 before being elected to his...

 of the National Movement for the Development of Society

National Movement for the Development of Society

The National Movement for the Society of Development - MNSD / MNSD-Nassara is a political party in Niger. Founded under the military government of the 1974-1990 period, it was the ruling party of Niger from 1989 to 1993 and again from 1999 until a coup on February 18, 2010, by a military junta...

 (MNSD).

Algabid was also elected to the National Assembly in the 1999 parliamentary election

Nigerien parliamentary election, 1999

Parliamentary elections were held in Niger on 24 November 1999, co-inciding with the second round of the presidential elections. The vote for the first parliament of the Fifth Republic, which had originally been scheduled for October, but delayed in August, saw a victory for the National Movement...

, and during the parliamentary term that followed he served as Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly as well as the Vice-President of the RDP Parliamentary Group.

Algabid was re-elected as President of the RDP for another three-year term at a party congress on January 23, 2001. On this occasion, he said that the RDP's "immediate objective" was "to secure the opening of an international commission of inquiry into the assassination of president Mainassara".

Algabid served as the African Union

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

's special envoy for Darfur

Darfur conflict

The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...

 in 2004. On September 11, 2004 he was designated as the RDP candidate in the 2004 presidential election

Niger presidential election, 2004

The Republic of Niger held a presidential election on 16 November 2004. Voter turnout in this round of polling was 48.3%. It was won by Tandja Mamadou.-Candidates:Six candidates contested the election:...

; however, he was largely absent from Niger at the time due to his role as a mediator in Sudan. In the election, held on 16 November, Algabid finished last out of six candidates with 4.89% of the vote. On 21 November, the RDP announced its support for Tandja in the second round.

Algabid was re-elected to the National Assembly in the 2004 parliamentary election

Nigerien parliamentary election, 2004

A parliamentary election was held in Niger on 4 December 2004 alongside a simultaneous presidential election. 105 members were elected in 8 multi-member constituencies using the party-list proportional representation system...

. He was subsequently appointed as President of the High Council of Territorial Collectivities (HCCT), a body responsible for local government in Niger. In December 2006, he was awarded a medal by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was established by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in May 1979. ISESCO is one of the largest international Islamic organizations and specializes in the fields of education, science, and culture...

 (ISESCO).

During the 2009 constitutional crisis caused by Tandja's decision to seek a referendum on a new constitution that would enable him to remain in power, the RDP-Jama'a announced on May 12, 2009, that it would support the new constitution, which would establish a presidential system; according to Algabid, a presidential system was "best suited to promote development". However, the RDP's support was conditional: it demanded the removal of the 1999 constitution's amnesty for those involved in Maïnassara's assassination, and it demanded an investigation into the 1999 coup. On June 28, 2009, the RDP changed its position, announcing its unconditional support for the referendum despite the continued inclusion of the constitutional amnesty. The RDP was given two posts in the government, and the mandate of the HCCT, chaired by Algabid, was extended by six months. Some members of the party disapproved of the decision to support the referendum, however, and two former ministers, Abdoulrahamane Seydou and Moussa Oumarou, resigned from the RDP as a result.

The RDP participated in the October 2009 parliamentary election

Nigerien parliamentary election, 2009

A parliamentary election was held in Niger on 20 October 2009, in the wake of President Mamadou Tandja's dissolution of the National Assembly in May 2009 and a successful constitution referendum in August 2009.-Election date:...

, but the opposition, angered by Tandja's efforts to remain in power, boycotted it. ECOWAS, which wanted the election delayed in hopes of resolving the political crisis, suspended Niger from its ranks immediately after the election was held. Algabid was included in the 22-member Nigerien delegation that traveled to Abuja

Abuja

Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...

for talks with ECOWAS beginning on November 9, 2009.