Niger's ruling party wins parliamentary vote

NIAMEY, Niger

Niger’s ruling party took 43.6 percent of votes in the recent general election, the National Electoral Commission said late Sunday, giving it the largest number of seats.

The results from the Feb. 21 election, which was held the same day as the presidential election that has gone to a run-off vote, showed the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism secured 75 of the National Assembly’s 171 seats, the commission said in a statement.

Party leader Mahamadou Issoufou, who has been president since 2011, fell short of an outright majority in the presidential poll and faces a run-off against jailed opposition leader Hama Amadou on March 20.

Amadou’s Nigerien Democratic Movement for an Africa Federation came second with 14.5 percent of the votes, securing 25 seats.

The National Movement for the Development of Society took 19 seats, the Patriotic Movement for the Republic 15 seats and a number of smaller parties won six seats or less.

The presidential poll saw Issoufou win 48.4 percent of the vote while Amadou, who has been in prison since November on what supporters claim are politically motivated charges, took 17.7 percent.

The former French colony, a producer of uranium and oil, is prone to drought and is one of the world’s least developed nations, according to the UN. It has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world and disease is widespread.

The country faces a security threat from Boko Haram, which has carried out raids in the southeastern Diffa region.