Maïnassara was assassinated in April 1999, and a military regime scheduled a new presidential election for late in the year. Algabid ran as the RDP-Jama'a candidate in this election; although Amadou Cissé, the RDP's Vice-President, also attempted to run as the RDP candidate, the Court of State approved Algabid's candidacy and rejected Cissé's candidacy on 3 September. In the first round of the election, held on 17 October, Algabid placed fourth out of seven candidates, winning 10.83% of the vote. On 6 November, Algabid announced his support for Mahamadou Issoufou, the candidate of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, in the second round; Issoufou was defeated by Tandja Mamadou of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD).