Mohamed Bazoum

Mohamed Bazoum
محمد بازوم
Bazoum in 2023
10th President of Niger
In office
2 April 2021 – 26 July 2023
Prime MinisterOuhoumoudou Mahamadou
Preceded byMahamadou Issoufou
Succeeded byAbdourahamane Tchiani (as President of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland)
President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism
In office
March 2011 – 20 December 2022
Preceded byMahamadou Issoufou
Succeeded byFoumakoye Gado
Minister of the Interior
In office
13 April 2016 – 1 April 2021
PresidentMahamadou Issoufou
Prime MinisterBrigi Rafini
Preceded byHassoumi Massaoudou
Succeeded byAlkache Alhada
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
21 April 2011 – 26 February 2016
PresidentMahamadou Issoufou
Prime MinisterBrigi Rafini
Preceded byAminatou Maïga Touré
Succeeded byAïchatou Boulama Kané
In office
25 February 1995 – 5 May 1996
PresidentMahamane Ousmane
Prime MinisterAmadou Cissé
Preceded byAbdourahmane Hama
Succeeded byAndré Salifou
Member of the National Assembly
In office
February 2005 – 2021
Constituencyunknown
In office
11 April 1993 – January 1995
ConstituencyTesker (special)
Personal details
Born (1960-01-01) 1 January 1960 (age 64)
Bilabrine, N'guigmi Cercle, French Niger
Political partyPNDS-Tarayya
SpouseHadiza Ben Mabrouk
Children4
Alma materCheikh Anta Diop University
ReligionSunni Islam
EthnicityOuled Slimane Arab[1]

Mohamed Bazoum (Arabic: محمد بازوم, romanizedMuḥammad Bāzūm; born 1 January 1960)[2] is a Nigerien politician who served as the 10th president of Niger from 2021 to 2023. He assumed office in April 2021 after winning the 2020–21 presidential election and surviving a coup d'état attempt.[3] He was ousted in the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état by members of the presidential guard and the armed forces led by Abdourahamane Tchiani.[4][5][6][7]

Before becoming president, he served as the president of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya).[8] He also served in as a minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was minister of State at the Presidency briefly in 2016 and was later appointed minister of State for the Interior between 2016 until his election as president in 2021, when he resigned to focus on running for the 2020–21 presidential election. Bazoum won the second round of the presidential election with 55.67% of the vote against former president Mahamane Ousmane.[9]

Bazoum, a member of the Arab minority Ouled Slimane people, is the first Arab president of Niger in the country's history.[1][10]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jaf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Mohamed Bazoum: qui est le nouveau président du Niger?" [Mohamed Bazoum: who is the new president of Niger?]. BBC News Afrique (in French). 24 February 2021 [2 January 2021]. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Niger's Mohamed Bazoum sworn in as president after failed coup". BBC News. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  4. ^ Omar Hama Saley; Elian Peltier; Declan Walsh (26 July 2023). "Military in Niger Announces Coup After Soldiers Detain President". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  5. ^ Hauser, Jennifer; Conte, Michael; Lau, Chris (4 August 2023). "Niger's ousted president warns of 'devastating' coup impact, growing Russian influence". CNN. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. ^ Chothia, Farouk (31 July 2023). "Niger coup: Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum meets Chad's leader". BBC News. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Niger general Tchiani named head of transitional government after coup". Al Jazeera. 28 July 2023. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Niger's Bazoum offers stability over democracy". Emerald Expert Briefings. oxan–db (oxan–db). 1 January 2019. doi:10.1108/OXAN-DB243255. S2CID 242418996. Retrieved 27 December 2020 – via Emerald Insight.
  9. ^ "Mohamed Bazoum wins Niger's presidential runoff". Nation. AFP. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  10. ^ Cafiero, Giorgio (5 July 2021). "Israel normalisation: Is Niger next in line?". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.