Ange-Félix Patassé

Ange-Félix Patassé (born January 25, 1937 in Paoua ; † April 5, 2011 in Douala , Cameroon ) was the President of the Central African Republic from 1993 to 2003.

Life

In 1959, a year before his country's independence , he graduated from the Academy of Tropical Agriculture in Nogent-sur-Marne, France . In December 1965, then President David Dacko appointed him Minister of Agriculture and Development.

When Jean-Bédel Bokassa came to power in 1966, Patassé quickly won his favor and worked for many years as a minister in various departments; Among other things, he was Minister of Transport, Health and Tourism. On December 8, 1976, Bokassa appointed him Prime Minister . A year later he took part in the extravagant ceremony in which Bokassa crowned himself emperor . Patassé then turned away from him and was removed from all his offices. He then fled to Paris .

When Bokassa was deposed in a coup that was supported by France, the reinstated Dacko placed Patassé under house arrest. He tried to flee to Chad , but was arrested again. However, he was later released for health reasons. He ran in the 1981 election and won 38 percent of the vote, so he lost to Dacko. When he was deposed in a coup by André Kolingba six months later and many parties were banned, Patassé fled to France again. He was involved in an attempted coup in 1982, but it failed, so that he fled first to Togo and then to France.

In 1993 he ran again in the elections, this time as leader of the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MPLC) , and won against Kolingba and Abel Goumba . He took office on October 22nd of that year. In May 1996 there was an anti-French revolt, which he was able to put down with the help of François Bozizé . Another uprising in early 1997 was again brought to an end with the help of Bozizé and troops from Burkina Faso , Chad, Gabon , Mali , Senegal and Togo.

In the presidential election in September 1999, Patassé won against Kolingba in the first round with almost 51.6 percent of the vote. Some opposition leaders described the results as manipulated and François Bozizé himself launched several rebellions.

Patassé left the country in 2003 to go to a conference in Niger . During his absence, Bozizé managed to bring the capital Bangui under his control on March 15 . Although the coup was internationally condemned, no attempt was made to remove the new leader. Patassé lived in exile in Togo .

Although his party nominated him as a presidential candidate in November 2004, he was banned from voting on December 30 because the Constitutional Court found problems with his birth certificate. He was one of seven candidates who were banned from voting. After an agreement was signed on January 22nd in Libreville , Gabon, the remaining candidates were re-admitted. However, due to legal proceedings, Patassé remained banned. He is accused of stealing 70 billion CFA francs from the state budget, which he denied in an interview on December 21, 2004. He is also charged with war crimes following a failed coup attempt in 2002 . Patassé declared the Libreville Agreement null and void, whereupon his party had Patassé's last Prime Minister, Martin Ziguélé, run for election.

literature

• Ange-Félix Patassé , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 43/2011 of October 25, 2011, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110427151143/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ioPwyrjquxHY3DAfkIZlrOzvNnWA?docId=CNG.5608774259bde2e96ee4c17501ae73ed.9
2. ↑ The Guardian: Ange-Félix Patassé obituary (June 14, 2011)