Following the
2004 parliamentary election, no single party had a majority in the National Assembly. The
MNSD-Nassara, with 47 of the 113 seats—as well as the Presidency—formed a coalition government headed by
Prime Minister Hama Amadou. To support this government, some seats in the Council of Ministers were held by other parties. When
Hama Amadou was forced from office in June 2007, much of the personnel in the Council changed, although the same parties were represented. Minor changes were made in 2008, but in May 2009, in response to their parties' opposition to a proposed referendum to allow the President to seek a third term, the three members of
RDP-Jama'a and
ANDP-Zaman Lahiya were replaced with ministers drawn from the MNSD-Nassara. With the continued support of the
CDS-Rahama, the MNSD maintained a working majority of 67 seats in the 113 seat National Assembly. On 28 May 2009, the President of Niger,
Mamadou Tandja, dismissed the National Assembly over his plans to hold a constitutional referendum, but retained the Council of Ministers and government of the Prime Minister. On 25 June, following a statement by Minister of Communication Ben Omar demanding the Constitutional Court of Niger rescind a ruling which stopped such a 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 Council of Ministers, including the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Health, and the Minister of Youth and Sport. In a statement, the CDS demanded the President definitively submit to the Court's decision. On 29 June the government announced seven of the eight CDS ministers had resigned, with the CDS
Minister of Defense,
Djida Hamadou, choosing to remain in the government. == Government Seyni Kountché ==