Soungalo Apollinaire Ouattara (born 31 December 1956Page at petiteacademie.gov.bf
.) is a Burkinabé politician who was President of the

National Assembly of Burkina Faso The unicameral National Assembly is Burkina Faso's legislative body. In 1995, it became the lower house of a bicameral Parliament, but the upper house ( Chamber of Representatives) was abolished in 2002. The upper house was to have been restored ...

from 2012 to 2014. Previously he served in the government as Minister of the Civil Service and State Reform from 2008 to 2012.

Life and career

Ouattara was born in

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 904,920 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo-Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking population (r ...

and worked as a civil servant. He became a civil administrator in 1983 and from 1983 to 1984 he was Prefect-Mayor of Réo, as well as Acting High Commissioner of Sanguié Province. He was Secretary-General of

Passoré Province Passoré is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Nord Region. Its capital is Yako. Education In 2011 the province had 316 primary schools and 39 secondary schools. Healthcare In 2011 the province had 42 health and social prom ...

and Gnagna Province from 1984 to 1988, as well as Prefect-Mayor of

Bogandé Bogandé is a town located in the province of Gnagna in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of Bogandé Department and Gnagna Province. The town has a population of 21,443 (2019). Transport Bogandé Airport (IATA: XBG, ICAO: DFEB) is a public use ...

and Prefect of Thyon."Soungalo Apollinaire Ouattara, administrateur de cœur et de raison"
Lefaso.net, 18 March 2008 . Ouattara served as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Security from 1988 to 1994 and as Permanent Secretary of the National Decentralization Commission from 1994 to 1995. Subsequently, he was Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1995 to 2006. He was appointed as Minister-Delegate under the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, in charge of Local Collectivities, on 6 January 2006, and he was subsequently promoted to the position of Minister of the Civil Service and State Reform on 3 September 2008.
Lefaso.net, 5 September 2008 . He is a member of the Political Bureau of the Congress of Democracy and Progress (CDP). A book written by Ouattara, ''Local Governance and Freedoms: For an African Renaissance'' (''Gouvernance et libertés locales – Pour une renaissance de l’Afrique''), was published by Karthala Editions in November 2007. Ouattara served as Minister of the Civil Service for four years. In the December 2012 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate in

Houet Province Houet is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Hauts-Bassins Region. The capital of Houet is Bobo-Dioulasso. In 2019, the province had a population of 1,509,377. Departments Houet is divided into 13 departments (one of them, Bo ...

.Vincent Duhem
"Soungalo Ouattara a été élu président de l'Assemblée nationale burkinabè"
''Jeune Afrique'', 28 December 2012 . When the National Assembly began sitting for its new parliamentary term, Ouattara was elected as President of the National Assembly on 28 December 2012."Burkina Faso: Soungalo Apollinaire Ouattara élu nouveau président de l'Assemblée nationale"
Radio France Internationale, 29 December 2012 . He received 96 votes, while the opposition candidate for the post, Denis Nikiéma, received 30 votes. During mass protests against plans to change the constitution to allow President

Blaise Compaoré Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951)''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 76–77.

to run for another term, angry protesters attacked the National Assembly on 30 October 2014 and set it on fire, preventing a planned vote on the change. Later in the day, the military, apparently taking control of the country, announced that the National Assembly was dissolved; Compaoré was forced to resign the next day. Legally, Compaoré's resignation meant that the President of the National Assembly should succeed him in an interim capacity, but the National Assembly had already been dissolved; in any case, the military, under

Isaac Zida Yacouba Isaac Zida (born 16 November 1965) is a Burkinabé military officer who briefly served as Burkina Faso's acting head of state in November 2014. He took power in the aftermath of the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, sidelining a more senior off ...

, had taken power, and it seemed impossible that the crowds so hostile to Compaoré would accept Ouattara, a long-time Compaoré loyalist, as a successor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouattara, Soungalo 1956 births Living people Government ministers of Burkina Faso Congress for Democracy and Progress politicians People from Bobo-Dioulasso Members of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso Presidents of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso 21st-century Burkinabé people