Martin Ziguélé

Martin Ziguélé

Martin Ziguélé (born February 12, 1957^[1]) is a Central African politician who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 2001 to 2003. He placed second in the 2005 presidential election and is currently the President of the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC).

Ziguélé was appointed as Prime Minister on April 1, 2001 by President Ange-Félix Patassé,^[2][3] replacing Anicet-Georges Dologuélé.^[3] He had previously lived in Lomé, Togo^[2][3] for twenty years and was an executive member of the MLPC.^[3] He left office when rebel leader François Bozizé took power upon capturing the capital, Bangui, on 15 March 2003. Ziguélé was allowed to go into exile in France.^[2]

Ziguélé was initially barred from running in the 2005 presidential election, along with six other candidates, by a court ruling on December 30, 2004. He was subsequently reinstated as a candidate by Bozizé, along with two other candidates, on January 4.^[4] Later in January, all barred candidates, with the lone exception of Patassé, were allowed to run; following this, Patassé's party, the MLPC, backed Ziguélé for the election. Previously, he had been running as an independent.^[5] The election was held on March 13, 2005, and Ziguélé came in second with 23.5% of the votes according to official results.^[6] He faced Bozizé in a second round of voting, and tried to distance himself from Patassé in campaigning, but was defeated and took 35.4% of the vote.

Ziguélé was elected as President of the MLPC on a provisional basis for one year at an extraordinary party congress in late June 2006, while Patassé was suspended from the party.^[7][8][9] On June 23, 2007, at the end of the MLPC's third ordinary congress,^[9] Ziguélé was elected to a three-year term as President.^[10]

References

1. ^ (French) "Ziguélé Martin, candidat n°6, MLPC", 2005 election profile, ideesplus.com.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "L’ancien Premier ministre autorisé à quitter Bangui pour Paris", Afrique Express, N° 273, July 1, 2003 (French).
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Que va faire Dologuélé ?", Jeuneafrique.com, April 10, 2001 (French).
4. ^ (English) "Bozize repeals court ban on some presidential candidates", IRIN, January 5, 2005.
5. ^ (French) "Le parti de l'ex-président centrafricain Patassé soutient Martin Ziguélé", AFP (izf.net), January 26, 2005.
6. ^ (French) "Second tour : Bozizé face à Ziguélé", Radio France Internationale, March 31, 2005.
7. ^ (French) "Centrafrique: Martin Ziguélé, ancien premier ministre, a été élu à la tête du MLPC, parti d'opposition, après un congrès extraordinaire de trois jours qui a décidé la radiation du parti de l'ancien Président centrafricain Ange-Félix Patassé", AFP (izf.net), June 25, 2006
8. ^ (French) "Patassé suspendu du MLPC", Agence Centrafrique Presse, June 26, 2006
9. ^ ^{a b} (French) "RCA: l'ex-Premier ministre Ziguélé élu chef du principal parti d'opposition", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), June 24, 2007.
10. ^ (French) "Centrafrique/Politique : Martin Ziguélé face à la presse", Agence Centrafrique Presse, June 30, 2007.

Preceded by Anicet Georges Dologuélé

Prime Minister of the Central African Republic 2001–2003

Succeeded by Abel Goumba

Persondata
Name	Ziguele, Martin
Alternative names
Short description	Prime Minister of the Central African Republic
Date of birth	February 12, 1957
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death