René Radembino Coniquet (26 June 1932 – 4 September 2014) was a

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

ese politician who served as President of the

Senate of Gabon The Senate (''Sénat'') is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 102 members, elected for a six-year term in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors. Beginning with the 2009 election, some constituencies ele ...

from 2006Page at Africa Caribbean Pacific - European Union Parliamentary Assembly website

. to 2009."Gabon: Parlement: Rose Francine Rogombé à la tête de la chambre haute pour six ans"
, Gabonews, 16 February 2009 . He was a Senator from 1997 to 2014 and a long-time member of the

Gabonese Democratic Party The Gabonese Democratic Party (french: Parti Démocratique Gabonais, abbreviated PDG), is the ruling and dominant political party of Gabon. Between 1968 and 1990 it was the sole legal party. History The party was established as the Gabonese Dem ...

(PDG).

Life and career

Radembino Coniquet was born in Libreville. He became Deputy Director of Finance in 1961, Prefect of Ngounié in 1962, and Secretary of the Council of Ministers in 1963. Subsequently he was Secretary-General of the Government before being appointed as Secretary-General of the Presidency in 1967.Eustache Mandjouhou Yolla
''La politique étrangère du Gabon''
(2003), Harmattan, page 26 . He was appointed as Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency on 12 July 1972; later, he was promoted to the rank of Minister of State. Radembino Coniquet remained Secretary-General of the Presidency until early 1994, when Mamadou Diop was appointed to succeed him. When the Senate was created in 1997, Radembino Coniquet was elected as a Senator from Owendo and became the President of the Commission of Laws and Administrative Affairs in the Senate on 10 March 1997. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2003. Upon the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament in March 2004, Radembino Coniquet became one of Gabon's five representatives in that body. Later in the Senate's term, following the death of

Georges Rawiri Georges Rawiri (March 10, 1932 – April 9, 2006
Xinhua (''People's Daily Online''), April 10, 2006.

on 9 April 2006, Radembino Coniquet was elected to succeed him as President of the Senate on 24 May 2006."Coniquet elected as new Gabonese senate speaker"
Xinhua, 25 May 2006. Radembino Coniquet received 86 votes from the 90 senators who voted and was to serve as President of the Senate for the remainder of the Senate term, ending in 2009. Rawiri had been Co-President of the Africa Caribbean Pacific - European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and Radembino Coniquet was designated to succeed him in that role as well. Radembino Coniquet met with

Wu Bangguo Wu Bangguo (born 12 July 1941) is a retired high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He was the Chairman and Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 t ...

, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, on 7 November 2008. They expressed a mutual desire for increased cooperation between the two countries. In the January 2009 Senate election, Radembino Coniquet stood again as the PDG candidate in Owendo and was re-elected to the Senate.Alfred Mba Asseko
"Le PDG rafle 75 des 102 sièges au Sénat"
AGP, 19 January 2009 . He retained his seat despite the fact that only a minority of Owendo's municipal councillors (who were the electors) belonged to the PDG. Following that election, Rose Francine Rogombé was elected to succeed Radembino Coniquet as President of the Senate on 16 February 2009. Speaking to Gabonews in

Midrand Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History Midrand was established as a municipality in 1 ...

on 29 October 2009, Radembino Coniquet said that the Pan-African Parliament was working to strengthen the African Union, with the ultimate goal of establishing a continental government. Radembino Coniquet was a Vice-President of the PDG as of 2008. Radembino Coniquet died in Libreville at age 82 on the night of 3–4 September 2014."L'ancien président du Sénat René Radembino Coniquet n'est plus"
, Gaboneco, 5 September 2014 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coniquet, Rene Radembino 1932 births 2014 deaths Presidents of the Senate of Gabon Members of the Senate of Gabon Gabonese Democratic Party politicians Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Gabon Government ministers of Gabon 21st-century Gabonese people