Kumba Ialá

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Kumba Ialá (2009)

Kumba Ialá (born March 15, 1953 in Bula ; † April 4, 2014 in Bissau ), also spelled Kumba Yalá or Koumba Yalá , was a Guinea-Bissau politician and president of his home country from 2000 to 2003.

Early years

Ialá came from the Cacheu region in the west of what was then Portuguese Guinea and belonged to the Balanta ethnic group , who make up about a quarter of the population. As a teenager he joined the PAIGC independence movement . He studied theology in Lisbon , and later philosophy and law . Ialá spoke Portuguese, Spanish, French and English and could read Latin, Ancient Greek and Hebrew. For a while he worked as a teacher.

Politician

In 1987 he headed the Guinea-Bissau delegation at the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union . Two years later he was expelled from the then unity party PAIGC because he called for democratization. In 1991 and 1992 he was involved in founding opposition parties. After separating from his previous party, he founded the Partido para a Renovação Social (PRS) on January 14, 1992 . Free presidential elections were held for the first time on July 3, 1994. In the first ballot, President João Bernardo Vieira , who has ruled since 1980, received 46.2% of the vote, followed by Ialá with 21.88%. On August 7, 1994, Vieira won with 52.02% while Ialá received 47.98%. Foreign observers described the election as correct, but Ialá objected to the result in vain. He accepted the result on August 20, but refused his party's participation in the government.

president

After the civil war of 1998 and 1999, which ended with Vieira's overthrow, Ialá ran again and on November 28, 1999 reached first place with 38.81%, followed by interim president Malam Bacai Sanhá of the PAIGC. In the second ballot on January 16, 2000, he won with around 72% of the votes and was sworn in as the new President on February 17, 2000.

During his tenure, Ialá failed to revive the country's economy, which had been suffering from the civil wars. He accused the Gambia government of supporting the rebel groups in Guinea-Bissau and threatened to "crush" the country. On Ialá's orders, numerous members of the opposition were arrested, whom he accused of anti-government activities.

There were several coup attempts against him, including the rebellion of Ansumané Mané , the initiator of the civil war of 1998. The rebellion ended after a few days with the death of Mané. Ialá, who ruled increasingly authoritarian, postponed the parliamentary elections planned for 2003 several times. On September 14, 2003, Ialá was overthrown by the Army Chief of Staff , Veríssimo Correia Seabra . He was first detained and then placed under house arrest. He had to formally renounce the presidency and promise a five-year abstinence from politics.

Further career

In the run-up to the parliamentary elections in March 2004, Ialá was released from prison. His party PRS became the strongest opposition force in the elections. In March 2005, his party nominated him as a candidate for the presidential election, despite a five-year ban on political activity. The Supreme Court allowed his candidacy. Abroad and at the United Nations , Ialá's renewed political stance and his subsequent activities aroused some concern for the future stability of the country.

In mid-May Ialá declared his resignation from office of 2003 null and void, which apart from small demonstrations by his supporters had no further consequences. At the end of May he occupied the presidential palace with armed followers for four hours, the conflict was resolved peacefully. In the elections of June 19, 2005 he reached third place with 25% after the ex-presidents Vieira and Sanhá and retired from the race. Again he challenged the result without success, and several people died during demonstrations by his supporters. Most recently, he accepted his defeat and spoke out in favor of Vieira, who won the runoff election on July 24th and held the presidency again from October 1st, 2005 until his murder on March 2nd, 2009.

Ialá died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2014 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Morreu o ex-presidente guineense Kumba Ialá. ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Diário de Notícias of April 4, 2014 (accessed April 4, 2014). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dn.pt
  2. ↑ reuters.com

Web links

Commons : Kumba Yalá  - collection of images, videos and audio files

News on Ialá

personal data
SURNAME Ialá, Kumba
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kumba Yalá, Koumba Yalá
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Bula
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 2014
Place of death Bissau