Denis Sassou-Nguesso

Denis Sassou Nguesso [ dəni sasungɛso ] (* 1943 in Edou in the district of Oyo in the Congo ) is an officer and was 1979-1992 President of the People's Republic of Congo. He is since 1997 President of the Republic of Congo.

Early years

Sassou Nguesso belongs to the ethnic group of the Mbochi. He joined in 1960, shortly before the country's independence, the army at. He received military training in Algeria and in Saint- Maixent- l'École, France, before he was assigned to an elite unit.

Political career

Sassou Nguesso supported the opposition against the president Fulbert Youlou and took part in a 1968 military coup that brought Marien Ngouabi to power. Sassou Nguesso was a founding member of the Parti Congolais du Travail (PCT ) in December 1969.

1970 Sassou- Nguesso Director of Security and Minister in the new presidential council. As Ngouabi was murdered, Sassou- Nguesso played a key role in power conservation and briefly led the Military Committee of the Party Comité Militaire du Parti (CMP ), which controlled the government until his successor Colonel Joachim Yhombi - Opango took over this. Sassou Nguesso was awarded the appointment as Colonel and Vice President of the CMP. He remained Vice President until 5 February 1979, when Yhomby - Opango was forced to resign amid allegations of corruption.

President

On 8 February 1979, the CMP Sassou Nguesso elected as the new President and the Third Extraordinary Congress of the PCT confirmed his position.

Sassou Nguesso surprised many observers who had only seen him in a military, through his attitude to Marxism and his pragmatic politics. He negotiated to produce oil and other natural resources to the IMF through loans and allowed foreign investors from France and the USA. Also in 1981, he traveled to Moscow to sign a 20-year friendship treaty with Leonid Brezhnev.

He was in 1984 elected as President by the Congress of the PCT for another 5 years. He was 1986-1987 President of the Organization of African Unity. In late 1987 he managed with French help, a military revolt in the north of the country.

Sassou Nguesso began under the pressure of France and the collapse of the Eastern bloc a process of democratization. In December 1989, he announced the termination of economic controls by the state and a partial amnesty for political prisoners. The following year, he tried to improve the deteriorating economic situation and reduce corruption. Since August 1990 other political parties are allowed as the PCT, and Sassou Nguesso attended the United States and laid the foundation for further IMF loans. From the 8th June 1991, the real power was up to the elections in 1992 the new Prime Minister André Milongo as head of a transitional government.

In the elections of 1992, the PCT won only 19 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly, the Union pour la démocratie panafricaine sociale ( upads ) was the party with the most votes. Another powerful force was the Mouvement Congolais pour la démocratie et le développement intégral ( MCDDI ). The presidential elections in August were a duel between Pascal Lissouba ( upads ) and Bernard Kolelas ( MCDDI ). This Lissouba won on the second ballot with 61%. Sassou Nguesso difference in the first with only 17% of the vote from.

Exile

The arrival of Lissouba was overshadowed by allegations of vote-rigging, and repression, he tried to get his power. From November 1993 until the end of the year, at least 1,500 people died in fighting between supporters Kolelas and Lissouba. Sassou- Nguesso of Congo in 1994 left for Paris. Three years later, in 1997, the former head of state came back to run in July of the same year in the presidential elections.

On 5 June 1997, the army surrounded on behalf of the incumbent President Sassou- Nguesso Lissouba the property in Brazzaville. Sassou Nguesso - militias opposed the army, and a larger conflict began. Sassou Nguesso got support from Angola and took from 11 to 14 October by his troops the rule in Brazzaville. Lissouba fled, and Sassou Nguesso was declared on October 25th president.

Second Term

Sassou Nguesso was trying to lead the country back to democracy, and started in 1998 a three-year transformation process, but resurgent fighting with opposition groups ended this effort. After peace negotiations in 1999 elections for 2002 were recognized, although not all rebel groups signed the Convention. On March 10 Sassou Nguesso won with over 90 % of the vote. His two main political opponent, Lissouba and Kolelas, were not allowed to participate in the election, and the only remaining serious rival André Milongo called on his supporters to boycott the election, and resigned from the election. A new constitution was adopted in January 2002, which endowed the president with new powers, extended his term to seven years and a bicameral parliament contained.

From 24 January 2006 to January 2007 was Sassou Nguesso President of the African Union.

In the presidential elections on July 12, 2009 Sassou Nguesso was confirmed with a vote share of 78.6 % in office. He was already considered in advance as a safe choice winner. Leading the opposition had called for a boycott of the election process and accused the rulers of election rigging before. Even European Union observers reported irregularities in the voter lists, whereas the African Union spoke of a free and fair run-off presidential elections.

Method

In December 2001, the non-governmental organization in France FIDH reimbursed against Denis Sassou Nguesso, on the basis of universal jurisdiction criminal charges of torture, disappearances of people and crimes against humanity in Brazzaville in May 1999. In November 2004, the procedure was generally canceled. After the objection, FIDH the decision for lack of jurisdiction by the Supreme Court of Cassation, France in January 2007 has been canceled. Further investigations are ongoing.

Medals and Decorations

March 21, 2010 Sassou Nguesso was presented during the 20 -year-old Namibian independence day, the highest order of the Republic of Namibia. He took the Welwitschia Mirabilis - Medal 1st class personally.

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