Jean-Paul Ngoupandé

Jean-Paul Ngoupandé (born December 6, 1948 in Dékoa, † May 4, 2014 in Paris ) was a Central African politician and Prime Minister there from 1996 to 1997 .

Political career

Ngoupandé comes from Dékoa in the prefecture of Kemo-Gribingui and initially pursued an academic career before becoming Minister of Education in 1985. He held this office until 1989 when he became ambassador in various countries. On June 6, 1996, President Ange-Félix Patassé appointed him Prime Minister; but he resigned on January 30, 1997. During his brief tenure, during which he was also finance minister, he advocated liberal economic policy and fundamental reforms. He got into an argument with the president about the pace of these reforms.

In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the Parti de l'unité nationale (PUN) party, whose presidential candidate was in the June 19, 1999 elections. Patassé won this election while Ngoupandé only received 31,952 votes or 3.18%. The opposition described the elections as rigged. Ngoupandé presented himself as an opponent of all corruption and an advocate of democratic values.

On October 10, 2004, the PUN selected him as a candidate for the presidential election on March 13, 2005. Ngoupandé returned to Bangui from his exile in Paris . On December 30, 2004, his candidacy, together with that of six other candidates, was not accepted for formal reasons, but on January 4, 2005, he and two other applicants were accepted. In the presidential elections, he reached fourth place with around 5% of the vote and was eliminated from the race. In the parliamentary elections taking place at the same time, he won one of the 105 seats in the first round as one of 17 candidates. He then supported the ultimately victorious President François Bozizé and from June 19, 2005, he was Foreign Minister in the cabinet of the new Prime Minister Elie Doté . In September 2006 he left the government.

In his exile in Paris, Ngoupandé published several books.

Works

• Chronique de la crise centrafricaine 1996-1997: le syndrome Barracuda . (1997) ISBN 2738458009
• L'Afrique sans la France: histoire d'un divorce consommé . (2002) ISBN 2226130888
• L'Afrique face à l'islam: les enjeux africains de la lutte contre le terrorisme . (2003) ISBN 2226137734

Individual evidence

1. ^ Décès de l'ancien Premier ministre centrafricain, Jean-Paul Ngoupandé
2. ↑ Nouveau gouvernement ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (September 3, 2006)  

Web links

• Official website of the PUN (French)
• Speech by Ngoupandés, May 26, 2004 (French)
• IRIN NEWS about the elections, April 4, 2005 (english)
• Afrique Centrale on Ngoupandé's appointment as minister, June 19, 2005 (French)