Soumaïla Cissé

Soumaïla Cissé (20 December 1949 – 25 December 2020) was a Malian politician who served in the government of Mali as Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2000. He thrice stood unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate, in 2002, 2013 and 2018; on all three occasions he was defeated in a second round of voting. Since 2014 he was President of the Union for the Republic and Democracy, a political party.

Soumaïla Cissé
Cissé in 2013
Member of the National Assembly
In office
24 November 2013 – 18 August 2020
President of the UEMOA Commission
In office
January 2004 – August 2011
Minister of Equipment, Territorial Planning, Environment and Urbanism
In office
2000–2002
Minister of Finance
In office
1993–2000
Preceded byMahamar Oumar Maiga
Succeeded byBakari Koné
Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic
Personal details
Born(1949-12-20)20 December 1949
Nianfuke, Timbuktu, French Sudan
Died25 December 2020 (aged 71)
Paris, France
NationalityMalian
Political partyUnion for the Republic and Democracy
Spouse(s)Astan Traore (m. 1978)
Children4[1]
ResidenceBadalabougou, Bamako, Mali
Alma materÉcole polytechnique universitaire de Montpellier
Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar
AwardsCommander of the National Order of Benin

Officer of the Merit of the National Order of the Lion (Senegal)

Commander of the National Order of Mali Medal of recognition of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali

Life and career

Born in Nianfuke, near Timbuktu,[2] on 20 December 1949,[1] Soumaïla Cissé studied at l'Institut des Sciences de l'Ingénieur de Montpellier in France to become a software engineer. He worked for several large French companies (IBM-France, le Groupe Pechiney, le Groupe Thomson and the aerospace company Air Inter) before returning to Mali in 1984 to work at the Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile (CMDT).[3]

Following the creation of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (Alliance pour la démocratie au Mali - Parti africain pour la solidarité et la justice, ADEMA-PASJ) and the 1992 election of ADEMA candidate Alpha Oumar Konaré as President, Cissé became the Secretary-General of the Presidency. In 1993, he was named Minister of Finance,[4] then in 2000, Minister of Equipment, Management of Territory, Environment, and Urban Planning in the government of Mandé Sidibé.[3]

Cissé was elected as the Third Vice-President of ADEMA-PASJ at the party's first extraordinary congress, held between 25 and 28 November 2000.[5] In January 2002, he resigned from the government to devote himself to preparation for the 2002 presidential election, and ADEMA-PASJ selected him as its candidate to succeed Alpha Oumar Konaré. Cissé took second place in the first round of the election with 21.31% of the vote, but he lost to Amadou Toumani Touré in the second round, taking 34.99% of the vote.[6]

Considering himself overthrown by a faction of ADEMA-PASJ, Cissé left the party with a group of loyalists to found the Union for the Republic and Democracy (Union pour la république et la démocratie, URD) in June 2003.[3] He subsequently served as President of the Commission of the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA) from 2004 to 2011.[7][8]

Cissé spoke out against the 2012 Malian coup d'état and was badly wounded on 18 April when men attacked him at his house. He spent the following period in France and Senegal.[2]

Cissé ran as a candidate in the 2013 Malian presidential election. He lost in the second round to Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.[2]

At the URD's Third Ordinary Congress in November 2014, Soumaïla Cissé succeeded Younoussi Touré as President of the URD.[9]

Cissé ran as candidate in the 2018 Malian presidential election. He once again lost in the second round against to Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and obtained 32% of the vote.[2]

Kidnapping

On 26 March 2020, while on a campaign trip in Timbuktu region, Cissé was taken hostage by an unknown jihadist group. A few days after his kidnapping he was elected to the National Assembly, but the government confirmed that there was no news of his whereabouts.[10] It was later confirmed that he had been abducted by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and he was released on 6 October.[11]

Personal life

Cissé was married to Astan Traore since 1978.[2]

Cissé died in France on December 25, 2020, at the age of 71, after contracting COVID-19.[12][13]

References
  1. "Soumaïla CISSÉ" (in French). Union for the Republic and Democracy. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. "Profile: Soumaila Cisse". Al Jazeera. 5 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019.
  3. R-J Lique. "Soumaïla Cissé - biographie". Afrique Express (in French). Archived from the original on 4 August 2013.
  4. "Ministère de l'Economie et des Finances". web.archive.org. 15 September 2011.
  5. "Comité exécutif 2000–2003; La liste du comité exécutif issu du premier congrès extraordinaire", ADEMA-PASJ website (in French).
  6. "Elections in Mali". African Elections Database. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. "Mali : Soumaïla Cissé enfin libre..." Jeune Afrique (in French). 10 June 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  8. Ballong, Stéphane (23 March 2010). "Soumaïla Cissé : d'une présidence l'autre?". Jeune Afrique (in French). Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  9. "Soumaïla Cissé prend les rênes de l'URD" Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, Mali 24, 25 November 2014 (in French).
  10. "Mali opposition leader goes missing with 11 others: party". Reuters. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. Akinwotu, Emmanuel (6 October 2020). "Kidnapped Mali politician and French aid worker freed". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  12. "Mali opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé dies from coronavirus". Africanews. 25 December 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  13. Diallo, Tiemoko (25 December 2020). "Mali opposition leader and presidential hopeful Cisse dies". Reuters. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  • This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on 27 June 2005.
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