In the run-up to the 2009 elections (presidential, Assembly, and municipal), a movement to draft President Tandja for a third term appeared. Led by public figures of the MNSD outside government, the group took the name of Tandja's 2004 re-election slogan, "Tazartché": a Hausa word meaning ""Continuity"". Through several well funded and well attended public rallies in late 2008, the President remained silent on the calls for him to remain. The 1999 constitution not only limited the president to two terms (article 36), but explicitly barred amending this provision by any means (article 136). Prime Minister Seyni Oumarou reiterated on 22 January that all scheduled elections would go ahead before the end of 2009. In March, during his meetings with French President Sarkozy, Tandja explicitly stated that he would not seek a third term.