Moustapha Niasse (born November 4, 1939
.) is a
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
ese politician and diplomat who has been
President of the National Assembly from 2012 until 2022. He served in the government of Senegal as
Foreign Minister of Senegal
The Foreign Minister of Senegal is a Cabinet (government), cabinet-level position in the government of the Republic of Senegal. The position was founded upon independence of Senegal from France in 1960.
*
List of Foreign Ministers of Senegal
...
from 1978 to 1984 and again from 1993 to 1998. He was
Prime Minister of Senegal
The Prime Minister of Senegal is the head of government of Senegal. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Senegal, who is directly elected for a five-year term. The Prime Minister, in turn, appoints the Senegalese cabinet, after ...
for a few weeks in 1983, and he held that position again from 2000 to 2001.
Early life and education
Niasse was born in
Keur Madiabel, Senegal.
[ Graduated from ]Cheikh Anta Diop University
Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh ...
and University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
Political career
He was Director of the Presidential Cabinet from 1970 to 1979. In March 1979, he became Minister of Town Planning, Housing and Environment, serving in that position until September 1979, when he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was promoted to the rank of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in January 1981 and served in that position until April 1984. He briefly served as Prime Minister for a month in April 1983 prior to the abolition of that position. Niasse served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for a second time from June 1993 to July 1998. He then became Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-ge ...
in the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
countries until 1999.
During the late 1990s he broke with President and formed his own party, the Alliance of the Forces of Progress (AFP). He was a candidate in the February 2000 presidential election, in which against President Diouf and long-time opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade (born 29 May 1926)
Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved February 28, ...
also competed. Niasse received third place and 16.77% of the vote,[Elections in Senegal]
African Elections Database. while Diouf and Wade went to a runoff. Niasse supported Wade in the second round, and Wade promised him the position of Prime Minister; his support contributed to Wade's victory over Diouf. After Wade took office in early April 2000, he appointed Niasse as his Prime Minister.
Niasse served as Prime Minister until he resigned on March 3, 2001 due to the difficult relationship between himself and Wade. In the April 2001 parliamentary election, Niasse was elected to the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
through national list proportional representation as an AFP candidate.["Niasse Moustapha", ''Sénégal: Les Hommes de Pouvoir'', number 5]
Africa Intelligence
17 July 2001 . In 2002, United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
appointed Niasse to be his envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
in attempts to form a national unity government there.
Opposing an extension of the National Assembly's term beyond its five-year mandate, Niasse chose to resign his seat as a Deputy in June 2006, when the parliamentary term was originally scheduled to end.
In December 2006, Niasse was chosen as the candidate of Alternative 2007, a coalition of ten opposition parties, for the February 2007 presidential election. He was briefly detained by police in late January 2007, along with other opposition leaders, after participating in a banned protest regarding the delay of the next parliamentary election until June 2007. During the presidential campaign, Niasse blamed Wade for the ''Joola'' sea disaster; Wade in turn said that Niasse was a liar and that he was fortunate that he had not been jailed for crime he allegedly committed while serving as Prime Minister.
According to final results, Niasse placed fourth in the presidential election with 5.93% of the vote.["Le texte intégral de la décision du Conseil constitutionnel"]
Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, March 11, 2007 . He won one of the country's 34 departments, that of Nioro. Niasse rejected the results, alleged fraud, and said that the election was "a farce", but also said that he did not intend to file an appeal regarding the results.["Defeated candidate challenges Wade’s victory but will not file an appeal"]
African Press Agency, March 2, 2007.
Soon after the election, Wade mentioned Niasse as one of several opposition politicians who would be facing prosecution for corruption. Wade renewed an allegation, previously made in 2002, that Niasse had sold diplomatic passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
s to Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, ...
businessmen and others from that country.
In the March 2009 local elections, the opposition coalition Benno Siggil Senegaal—which included Niasse and the AFP—performed well in Nioro Department and across the country. Shortly afterward, Niasse said that Wade should react to his party's poor performance by dissolving the National Assembly and the Senate and resigning as President. According to Niasse, Wade "betrayed the people of Senegal" and put the country "in a catastrophic situation". He also derided Wade for having what he described as a "paranoid fixation" on Nioro Department.
In the February–March 2012 presidential election, Niasse stood again as a candidate and then backed Macky Sall
Macky Sall (, wo, Maki Sà ll, fuc, 𞤃𞤢𞤳𞤠𞤅𞤢𞤤‎, italic=no, Maki Sal; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. He was re-elected President in the first round voti ...
against President Wade in the second round. Sall won the election. A few months later, Niasse was elected to the National Assembly in the July 2012 parliamentary election as a member of the coalition supporting President Sall. The presidential coalition won a large majority of seats. On 30 July 2012, he was elected as President of the National Assembly; he defeated opposition candidate Oumar Sarr, a loyalist of Wade. Niasse received 126 votes against 17 votes for Sarr; there were three blank votes.
On 11 October 2013, Niasse was re-elected as President of the National Assembly for another year."Renouvellement sans surprise, mais non sans critiques, du bureau de l'Assemblée sénégalaise"
Radio France Internationale, 12 October 2013 .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niasse, Moustapha
1939 births
Living people
Members of the National Assembly (Senegal)
Presidents of the National Assembly (Senegal)
Prime Ministers of Senegal
Foreign ministers of Senegal
Socialist Party of Senegal politicians
Alliance of the Forces of Progress (Senegal) politicians
Senegalese Muslims
People from Kaolack Region