Martin Ziguélé (born 12 February 1957) is a Central African politician who was

Prime Minister of the Central African Republic This article lists the heads of government of the Central African Republic. There have been twenty-five heads of government of the Central African Republic and the Central African Empire. The office of Prime Minister, the head of government, w ...

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 The Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (french: Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain, MLPC) is a political party in the Central African Republic. It has been an observer member of the Socialist Internatio ...

(MLPC).

Life and career

Ziguélé was appointed as Prime Minister on 1 April 2001 by President

Ange-Félix Patassé Ange-Félix Patassé (January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'ét ...

,"L’ancien Premier ministre autorisé à quitter Bangui pour Paris"
, ''Afrique Express'', number 273, July 1, 2003 ."Que va faire Dologuélé ?"
''Jeune Afrique'', April 10, 2001 . replacing

Anicet-Georges Dologuélé Anicet-Georges Dologuélé (born 17 April 1957) is a Central African politician who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 4 January 1999 to 1 April 2001. Subsequently, he was President of the Development Bank of Central African St ...

. He had previously lived in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

for twenty years and was an executive member of the MLPC. He also hold the portfolio of

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. Ziguélé left office when rebel leader

François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. Bozizé rose to become a high-ranking army officer in the 1970s, under the rule of Jean-B� ...

took power upon capturing the capital,

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, on 15 March 2003. Ziguélé was allowed to go into exile in France. 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. 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. The election was held on March 13, 2005, and Ziguélé placed second with 23.5% of the votes according to official results. 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."RCA: l'ex-Premier ministre Ziguélé élu chef du principal parti d'opposition"
Agence France-Presse, June 24, 2007 . On June 23, 2007, at the end of the MLPC's third ordinary congress, Ziguélé was elected to a three-year term as President. In the December 2015 presidential election, Ziguélé stood as the MLPC candidate and placed fourth. In the February–March 2016 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as the MLPC candidate in the third constituency of

Bocaranga Bocaranga is a sub-prefecture in the prefecture of Ouham-Pendé in Central African Republic. The city must not be confused with Bocaranga I, Bocaranga II, Bocaranga III and Bocaranga IV. These are smaller villages along the road from Bocaranga to ...

, winning in the first round with 66.25%% of the vote."Résultats du 1er tour des législatives validés par la CCT concernant 46 députés"
RJDH . In October 2021, The COD-2020 coalition, Crépin Mboli-Goumba’s Patrie party and Martin Ziguélé’s Central African People’s Liberation Movement withdrew their representatives from the organizing committee and denounced “a desire to sabotage the Dialogue”.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziguele, Martin 1957 births Living people Finance ministers of the Central African Republic Prime Ministers of the Central African Republic Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People politicians Central African Republic exiles Central African Republic expatriates in France People from Ouham-Pendé