Nicolas Tiangaye
| Nicolas Tiangaye | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Prime Minister of the Central African Republic | |
|
In office 17 January 2013 – 10 January 2014 |
|
| President |
François Bozizé Michel Djotodia (Transitional from 18/08/2013) |
| Preceded by | Faustin-Archange Touadéra |
| Succeeded by | André Nzapayeké |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 September 1956 Bocaranga, Ubangi-Shari (now Central African Republic) |
| Political party | Independent |
Nicolas Tiangaye (born 13 September 1956) is a Central African politician and lawyer who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 17 January 2013 until his resignation on 10 January 2014. He was President of the National Transitional Council from 2003 to 2005.
Following a peace agreement between the government and rebels, Tiangaye was designated by the opposition and the rebels as their choice for the post of Prime Minister in January 2013. He stepped down (alongside President Michel Djotodia) on 10 January 2014.
Tiangaye was born at Bocaranga in 1956 and became a lawyer. In 1986, Tiangaye was one of three Central African lawyers selected by the deposed emperor Jean-Bedél Bokassa to defend him at his trial. He was also a defense lawyer for François Bozizé in 1989, when Bozizé was accused of plotting against the government. Bozizé was acquitted. Years later, after Tiangaye and Bozizé had become political opponents, Tiangaye said about the case that he "was doing [his] duty as a lawyer" and that he did not regret defending Bozizé.
Tiangaye served as President of the Central African Human Rights League (LCDH) from its foundation in 1991 until 2004. He was a defense lawyer for the Rwandan politician Jean-Paul Akayesu at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1996; Akayesu was convicted of genocide. Tiangaye was also a defense lawyer for Jean-Jacques Demafouth, a former Central African defense minister, when the latter was put on trial for allegedly plotting a coup against President Ange-Félix Patassé in 2001; Demafouth was acquitted in October 2002. During Patassé's presidency, Tiangaye was at one point offered the post of Prime Minister, but he declined.
After François Bozizé seized power in March 2003, Tiangaye was designated as one of the 98 members of the National Transitional Council (CNT), which was established to act as a transitional legislative body; he was included on the Council as a representative of a human rights organization, due to his role as President of the LCDH. He was then elected as President of the CNT on 14 June 2003. In that post, he helped draft the 2004 constitution; according to Tiangaye, Bozizé was displeased by the constitution's limit of two presidential terms and was consequently unhappy with Tiangaye.
...
Wikipedia