Parliamentary elections were held in
Niger on 23 November 1996. They followed the constitutional changes approved in a
referendum earlier in the year, which re-introduced multi-party democracy suspended by an earlier
military coup. However, the eight main opposition parties boycotted the elections after forming the Front for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy.[1] The result was a victory for the
National Union of Independents for Democratic Renewal, which won 59 of the 83 seats,[1] three of which were won in by-elections after the original result had been invalidated by the
Supreme Court.