Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Encyclopedia
Hassan Gouled Aptidon (October 15, 1916 - November 21, 2006) was the first President of Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

 from 1977 to 1999.

Biography

He was born in a small village called Garissa in the Lughaya
Lughaya
Lughaya is a hot and dry coastal town on the Guban coast in the Awdal province of Somalia. Local control of the city is disputed between Awdalland, a proposed autonomous state, and Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of...

 district of northern Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. He played an important role in Djibouti's struggle for independence from France. According to I.M. Lewis, "with the powerful support of the French electorate" Hassan Gouled campaigned against Mahamoud Harbi Farah of the Union Republicaine party
Republican Union (French Somaliland)
Republican Union was a political party in French Somaliland. It founded by Mahamoud Harbi Farah, a member of the French National Assembly. The party contested the 1957 territorial assembly election. The party won 61% of the votes in the territory. The party obtained 30 seats in the assembly. After...

, who sought to join the territory with neighboring Somalia. By the time of the 23 November 1958 elections, Mahamud Harbi's party had disintegrated and with the majority of the Afar
Afar people
The Afar , also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea.-Early history:...

 vote, his faction won election. Mahamud Harbi subsequently fled Djibouti, and later died in a plane crash.

Hassan Gouled served as Vice-President of the Government Council from 1958 to April 1959.Hassan Gouled also served in the French National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....

 1959-1962 and the French Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...

 1952-1958. He was Minister of Education in Ali Aref Bourhan's government from 1963 to 1967. Later he served as Prime Minister between May 1977 and July 1977.

In 1981, Hassan Gouled turned the country into a one party state by declaring that his party, the People's Rally for Progress
People's Rally for Progress
The People's Rally for Progress , is a political party in Djibouti. It has dominated politics in the country since 1979, initially under the rule of President Hassan Gouled Aptidon...

 (Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès, RPP), was the sole legal one. As the RPP candidate, he was elected without opposition for a six-year term as President on 12 June 1981, receiving 84.58% of the vote. After the breakout of a civil war
Djiboutian Civil War
The Djiboutian Civil War was a conflict in Djibouti between the People's Rally for Progress government and the predominantly Afar rebel group, the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy...

 in 1991, he allowed for a constitutional referendum on multiparty politics in September 1992, with four parties being permitted; in the parliamentary elections held in December 1992, however, only two parties competed, and the RPP won all 65 seats in the National Assembly. Gouled was reelected for a fourth term in May 1993 with 60.7% of the vote.

In the 1990s, the Djibouti economy deteriorated dramatically, with net external assets falling by 40 per cent. The World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 issued "a correspondingly gloomy and highly critical" assessment, mentioning such social problems as the excessive consumption of the addictive and debilitating drug qat
Qat
Qat may refer to:* Qat , of Oceania or Melanesia* Qat, or Khat, a tropical evergreen plant whose leaves are used as a stimulant...

by Djibouti's citizens. During this period, Hassan Gouled's nephew Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the President of Djibouti. He succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999. He is often referred to in the region by his initials 'IOG'....

 not only maneuvered to be his successor, but increasingly came to handle affairs for the elderly Hassan Gouled.

On 4 February 1999, Gouled Aptidon announced that he would retire at the time of the next election, and an extraordinary congress of the RPP chose Guelleh as its presidential candidate. Guelleh won the presidential election
Djiboutian presidential election, 1999
Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 9 April 1999. Following the retirement of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had served as President since independence in 1977, his nephew Ismail Omar Guelleh won the nomination of the ruling People's Rally for Progress...

held in April 1999 and succeeded his uncle on 8 May 1999. Gouled Aptidon died at his home on 21 November 2006, aged 90.
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