Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta

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Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta bigraphy, stories - Malian Prime Minister

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta : biography

January 29, 1945 –

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (born January 29, 1945) is a Malian politician. He was Prime Minister of Mali from 1994 to 2000 and President of the National Assembly of Mali from 2002., Bamanet.net, April 20, 2007 . to 2007., L’Essor, n°16026, September 4, 2007 . He founded a political party, Rally for Mali (RPM), in 2001, and he has led the party since then. .

Biography

Early life

Keïta was born in Koutiala, Mali. He studied at the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly in Paris and Lycée Askia-Mohamed in Bamako, continuing his education at the University of Dakar, the University of Paris I and the Institut d’Histoire des Relations Internationales Contemporaines (IHRIC; Institute of the Modern History of International Relations). He has a Master’s degree in History and an additional graduate degree in Political Science and International Relations.

After his studies, he was a researcher at the CNRS and taught courses on Third World politics at the University of Paris I. Returning to Mali, he became a technical consultant for the European Development Fund, putting together the first small-scale development program for the European Union’s aid activities in Mali. He went on to become Mali director for the French chapter of Terre des Hommes, an international NGO aiding children in the developing world.

1990s

Upon the founding of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA-PASJ), Keïta became its Secretary for African and International Relations at its constitutive congress, held on May 25–26, 1991., ADEMA website . He was the deputy director of ADEMA candidate Alpha Oumar Konaré’s successful presidential campaign in 1992. The new president named Keïta as his senior diplomatic adviser and spokesman in June 1992, and then in November 1992 Konaré appointed Keïta as Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Burkina Faso and Niger.

In November 1993, Keïta was appointed to the Malian government as Minister of External Affairs, Malians Abroad, and African Integration. On February 4, 1994, President Konaré named him Prime Minister, a position he held until February 2000. At ADEMA’s first ordinary congress, held in September 1994, Keïta was elected as the President of ADEMA., ADEMA website . Following presidential and parliamentary elections held in 1997, he resigned from his post as Prime Minister on September 13, 1997"Mali: Prime Minister Keita resigns", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), September 14, 1997. and was promptly reappointed by Konaré, with a new government appointed on September 16."Mali: President Konare forms new cabinet", RTM radio, Bamako (nl.newsbank.com), September 17, 1997.

2000s

Afrique Express L’Essor

In the July 2002 parliamentary election, Keïta was elected to a seat in the National Assembly from Commune IV in Bamako District, AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), July 6, 2007 . in the first round. He was then elected as President of the National Assembly on September 16, 2002,Francis Kpatindé, , Jeuneafrique.com, October 7, 2002 ., Afrique Express, N° 257, October 17, 2002 . receiving broad support, including the backing of ADEMA. He received 115 votes from the 138 participating deputies; the only other candidate, Noumoutié Sogoba of African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence (SADI), received eight votes, while 15 deputies abstained.

Keïta was also elected as President of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union on October 24, 2002 at its Khartoum Conference.

He ran for President again, as the candidate of the Rally for Mali, in the April 2007 election, having been designated as the party’s candidate on January 28, 2007., African Press Agency, January 28, 2007 . Touré won the election by a landslide, while Keita took second place and 19.15% of the vote., AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 12, 2007 . As part of the Front for Democracy and the Republic (FDR), a coalition that included Keita as well as three other presidential candidates, Keita disputed the results and sought for the election to be annulled, alleging fraud., AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 1, 2007 . On May 19, he said that the FDR would abide by the decision of the Constitutional Court to confirm Touré’s victory., Reuters (IOL), May 21, 2007.

In the July 2007 parliamentary election, Keïta ran for re-election to the National Assembly from Commune IV in Bamako, where 17 lists competed for the two available seats,B. S. Diarra, , Aurore (lemali.fr), June 18, 2007 . on an RPM list together with Abdramane Sylla., L’Essor, July 19, 2007 . Keïta’s list received 31.52% of the vote in the first round, held on July 1, slightly ahead of the list of independent candidate Moussa Mara, which received 30.70%. In the second round on July 22, Keïta’s list narrowly prevailed, winning 51.59% of the vote according to provisional results.M. Kéita, , L’Essor, n°15996, July 24, 2007 . He was not a candidate for re-election as President of the National Assembly at the opening of the new National Assembly on September 3; the position was won by ADEMA President Dioncounda Traoré., AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), September 3, 2007 .

Keïta is a member of the Pan-African Parliament from Mali.. As of 2007–2008, he is a member of the Commission of Foreign Affairs, Malians Living Abroad, and African Integration in the National Assembly., National Assembly website . In addition to serving in the National Assembly, Keïta is currently a member of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States., National Assembly website .