UN General Assembly
1995

democracy. Several international observers witnessed the vote and all of them said that it was a model of transparency and equity. These elections resulted in a majority in Parliament for the opposition parties. Thus, since that time, Niger has been living under a regime where the presidential minority does not coincide with the parliamentary majority. This so-called cohabitation regime is the most delicate form of the distribution of 11 constitutional powers and of relations between the different institutions of the Republic. Despite all the difficulties inherent in the exceptionally delicate and unprecedented experience we are undergoing, the regular functioning of the institutional machinery has never been found wanting. The Supreme Court, the institution entrusted with interpreting the Constitution and stating the law on the basis of which the operation of the Republic’s institutions can be ensured, has played a crucial role. Systematic reliance on the machinery of law has been an option of principle supported by the entire political community, which constitutes its dedication to the rule of law and to the