However, by the end of 1990, the Saibou regime acquiesced to union and student demands to institute a multi-party democratic system.

In 1991, two factions emerged within the MNSD, one behind Mamadou Tandja (MNSD-Nassara) and the other behind Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye, both of whom had been important figures in the regime of Seyni Kountché.

The cohabitation was marked by sharp rivalry between Amadou and Ousmane, and in January 1996 the military, led by Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, seized power in a coup.

[2] Tandja ran unsuccessfully again in the July 1996 presidential elections, finishing in third place with 15.65% of the vote, behind Maïnassara and Ousmane.

[4] Along with other opposition parties, grouped together as the Front for the Restoration and Defense of Democracy, the MNSD boycotted the November 1996 parliamentary elections.

[4][6] The MNSD again remained the largest party in the National Assembly, winning 38 out of the 83 seats,[4][6] and in alliance with the CDS, gained a parliamentary majority, resulting in Amadou becoming Prime Minister again.

[12] Despite a split in the party, jailed former prime minister Hama Amadou retained the Presidency of the MNSD with his supporter Habi Mahamadou Salissou as its Secretary-General.

[13] However, he was stripped of the formal leadership of the ruling party in early 2009; a special congress held in Zinder on 21 February replaced him with his successor as Prime Minister, Oumarou.

That move was followed by the MNSD's inclusion in the government and the appointment of Oumarou as High Representative of President Issoufou in October 2016.