Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
Encyclopedia
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is a Mali
an politician. He was Prime Minister of Mali from 1994 to 2000 and President
of the National Assembly of Mali
from 2002 to 2007. He is currently the President of the Rally for Mali
(RPM) political party.
, 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.
(ADEMA-PASJ), Keïta became its Secretary for African and International Relations at its constitutive congress, held on May 25–26, 1991. 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. Following presidential and parliamentary elections held in 1997, he resigned from his post as Prime Minister on September 13, 1997 and was promptly reappointed by Konaré, with a new government appointed on September 16.
Keïta was re-elected as ADEMA President in October 1999, and in November 1999, he was named Vice-President of the Socialist International
.
, receiving the strong backing of many Muslim leaders and associations. Despite this support, some people doubted that Keïta's policies were particularly compatible with Islam, pointing to the creation of casinos and lotteries while he was Prime Minister. In the first round of the election, held on April 28, he received about 21% of the vote and took third place, behind Amadou Toumani Touré
and Soumaïla Cissé
. He denounced the election as fraudulent, alleging that he was deliberately and falsely excluded from the second round, and along with other candidates sought for the results to be invalidated. On May 9 the Constitutional Court ruled that the second round should proceed with Touré and Cissé as the top two candidates, despite acknowledging significant irregularities and disqualifying a quarter of the votes because of the irregularities. According to the Constitutional Court, Keïta won 21.03% of the vote, only about 4,000 votes less than Cissé. On the same day, Keïta announced the support of his Espoir 2002 alliance for Touré in the second round; regarding the Court's ruling, he described himself as "a law-abiding person" and said that the Court had followed the law. The second round was won by Touré.
In the July 2002 parliamentary election, Keïta was elected to a seat in the National Assembly from Commune IV in Bamako District
in the first round. He was then elected as President of the National Assembly on September 16, 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. Touré won the election by a landslide, while Keita took second place and 19.15% of the vote. 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. On May 19, he said that the FDR would abide by the decision of the Constitutional Court to confirm Touré's victory.
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, on an RPM list together with Abdramane Sylla. 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. 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
.
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. In addition to serving in the National Assembly, Keïta is currently a member of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States
.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
an politician. He was Prime Minister of Mali from 1994 to 2000 and President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the National Assembly of Mali
National Assembly of Mali
The unicameral National Assembly of Mali is the country's legislative body.The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 14 and 28 July 2002, has a total of 160 members. 147 members are directly elected in single or multi-member constituencies using the Two-Round system...
from 2002 to 2007. He is currently the President of the Rally for Mali
Rally for Mali
The Rally for Mali is a Malian political party created by Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in June 2001.In October 2000, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the former prime minister of Mali, resigned from incumbent President Alpha Oumar Konaré's party, the Alliance for Democracy in Mali-African Party for Solidarity...
(RPM) political party.
Early life
Keïta was born in KoutialaKoutiala
Koutiala is a city in Mali in the administrative region of Sikasso. Koutiala serves as the capital of its administrative Cercle, home to 355,289 people. As of 2005, Koutiala has an estimated 96,600 residents and an area of 18 000 km²...
, Mali. He studied at the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Lycée Askia-Mohamed in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, continuing his education at the University of Dakar, the University of Paris I
University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne
Pantheon-Sorbonne University or Paris 1 is a university in Paris, France. With eight hundred years of excellence to build on, the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a descendant of the Sorbonne and the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris, is one of the largest universities in France today...
and the Institut d'Histoire des Relations Internationales Contemporaines (IHRIC; Institute of the Modern History of International Relations). He has a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and an additional graduate degree in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
and International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
.
After his studies, he was a researcher at the CNRS and taught courses on Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
politics at the University of Paris I
University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne
Pantheon-Sorbonne University or Paris 1 is a university in Paris, France. With eight hundred years of excellence to build on, the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a descendant of the Sorbonne and the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris, is one of the largest universities in France today...
. Returning to Mali, he became a technical consultant for the European Development Fund
European Development Fund
The European Development Fund is the main instrument for European Union aid for development cooperation in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories...
, putting together the first small-scale development program for the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's aid activities in Mali. He went on to become Mali director for the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chapter of Terre des Hommes
Terre des Hommes
Terre des hommes may refer to:* Terre des hommes , a 1939 philosophical memoir by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...
, an international NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
aiding children in the developing world.
1990s
Upon the founding of the Alliance for Democracy in MaliAlliance for Democracy in Mali
The Alliance for Democracy in Mali-Pan-African Party for Liberty, Solidarity and Justice is a political party in Mali....
(ADEMA-PASJ), Keïta became its Secretary for African and International Relations at its constitutive congress, held on May 25–26, 1991. He was the deputy director of ADEMA candidate Alpha Oumar Konaré
Alpha Oumar Konaré
Alpha Oumar Konaré was the President of Mali for two five-year terms , and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.-Scholarly career:...
's successful presidential campaign in 1992. The new president named Keïta as his senior diplomatic adviser and spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
in June 1992, and then in November 1992 Konaré appointed Keïta as Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
and Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
.
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
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, 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. Following presidential and parliamentary elections held in 1997, he resigned from his post as Prime Minister on September 13, 1997 and was promptly reappointed by Konaré, with a new government appointed on September 16.
Keïta was re-elected as ADEMA President in October 1999, and in November 1999, he was named Vice-President of the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
.
2000s
Disagreements within ADEMA forced him to resign as Prime Minister on February 14, 2000, and then from the leadership of the party in October 2000. He then founded his own party, the Rally for Mali (RPM), which he has led since its creation was announced on June 30, 2001. He stood as a candidate in the 2002 presidential electionMalian presidential election, 2002
Mali held a presidential election in 2002 to choose the President of Mali. The first round was held on 28 April 2002 and the second round was held on 12 May...
, receiving the strong backing of many Muslim leaders and associations. Despite this support, some people doubted that Keïta's policies were particularly compatible with Islam, pointing to the creation of casinos and lotteries while he was Prime Minister. In the first round of the election, held on April 28, he received about 21% of the vote and took third place, behind Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...
and Soumaïla Cissé
Soumaïla Cissé
Soumaïla Cissé is a Malian politician.Born in Timbuctu, Soumaïla Cissé studied at l'Institut des Sciences de l'Ingénieur de Montpellier in France to become a software engineer...
. He denounced the election as fraudulent, alleging that he was deliberately and falsely excluded from the second round, and along with other candidates sought for the results to be invalidated. On May 9 the Constitutional Court ruled that the second round should proceed with Touré and Cissé as the top two candidates, despite acknowledging significant irregularities and disqualifying a quarter of the votes because of the irregularities. According to the Constitutional Court, Keïta won 21.03% of the vote, only about 4,000 votes less than Cissé. On the same day, Keïta announced the support of his Espoir 2002 alliance for Touré in the second round; regarding the Court's ruling, he described himself as "a law-abiding person" and said that the Court had followed the law. The second round was won by Touré.
In the July 2002 parliamentary election, Keïta was elected to a seat in the National Assembly from Commune IV in Bamako District
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
in the first round. He was then elected as President of the National Assembly on September 16, 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
African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence
The African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence is a left-wing political party in Mali. It was founded by Cheick Oumar Sissoko and Oumar Mariko in 1996; Sissoko is the party's President and Mariko is its Secretary-General, the top post in the party...
(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
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
Conference.
He ran for President again, as the candidate of the Rally for Mali, in the April 2007 election
Malian presidential election, 2007
A presidential election was held in Mali on 29 April 2007. President Amadou Toumani Touré ran for re-election against seven other candidates and won in the first round with about 71% of the vote, according to final results.-Pre-campaign:...
, having been designated as the party's candidate on January 28, 2007. Touré won the election by a landslide, while Keita took second place and 19.15% of the vote. As part of the Front for Democracy and the Republic
Front for Democracy and the Republic
The Front for Democracy and the Republic is an opposition coalition in Mali that fought the presidential election on 29 April 2007 and the parliamentary election of 1 July and 22 July 2007. The FDR is an umbrella organisation, bringing together 16 independent political parties and groups...
(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. On May 19, he said that the FDR would abide by the decision of the Constitutional Court to confirm Touré's victory.
In the July 2007 parliamentary election
Malian parliamentary election, 2007
A parliamentary election was held in Mali on 1 July 2007 and 22 July. In the first round, there were about 1,400 candidates for 147 seats in the National Assembly....
, Keïta ran for re-election to the National Assembly from Commune IV in Bamako, where 17 lists competed for the two available seats, on an RPM list together with Abdramane Sylla. 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. 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
Dioncounda Traoré
Dioncounda Traoré is a Malian politician. He has been the President of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali-African Party for Solidarity and Justice since 2000 and has been the President of the National Assembly of Mali since September 2007...
.
Keïta is a member of the Pan-African Parliament
Pan-African Parliament
The Pan-African Parliament , also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union and held its inaugural session in March 2004. The PAP exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, lasting for the first five years...
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. In addition to serving in the National Assembly, Keïta is currently a member of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States
Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
.