Niger opposition groups protest President Tandja’s attempts to stay in power, 2009
For three months in 2009, opposition groups in Niger protested President Mamadou Tandja’s attempts to change the constitution so as to allow him a third five-year term in office (extending past December when his mandate was supposed to expire). President Tandja ordered a referendum on the matter to take place in early August. The Front for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) led most of the protests and strikes.