Amadou Toumani Touré

Biography

Amadou Toumani Touré was born on 4 November 1948, in Mopti, where he attended primary school. Between 1966 and 1969, he attended Badalabougou Standard Secondary School in Bamako in order to become a teacher. Eventually, he joined the army and attended the Kita Inter-Military College. As a member of the Parachute Corps, he rose quickly through the ranks and after numerous training courses in the Soviet Union and France, he became the commander of the parachute commandos in 1984.

In March 1991, after public demonstrations were violently quelled, he participated in a coup d'etat against Moussa Traoré and became leader of the Transitional Committee for the Welfare of the People, and performed the functions of the head of state during the transitional period towards democracy. He organized the national conference (between 29 July and 12 August 1991) which drew up the Constitution of Mali and the legislative and presidential elections in 1992. When the results of the election became known he relinquished power to the newly elected president, Alpha Oumar Konaré. Because of this, he gained the nickname "The Soldier of Democracy." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1021454.stm Country profile: Mali] ]

In June 2001, he became the special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the Central African Republic after the failed coup attempt there.

In September 2001 he asked for and was granted his expected retirement from the army. He decided to restart his political career by becoming a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. He was elected President of Mali in the 2002 presidential election. In the first round, he placed first with 28.71% of the vote, [ [http://www.essor.gov.ml/cgi-bin/view_article.pl?id=1652 "1er tour de l'élection présidentielle au Mali : Verdict de la Cour Constitutionnelle"] , "L'Essor", May 9, 2002 fr icon.] while in the second round he won 64.35% of the vote, defeating the ADEMA candidate, former cabinet minister Soumaila Cissé, who obtained 35.65% of the vote. Touré was sworn in on June 8, 2002.

His presidency has been rather atypical; he is not a member of any political party and his government has members from all of the political parties in the country. Following his 2002 election, he appointed Ahmed Mohamed ag Hamani to the post of Prime Minister. On April 28, 2004, he was replaced by Ousmane Issoufi Maiga.

He founded a children's foundation named Fondation pour l'enfance - a name shared with a similar organization, created by former French first-lady Danielle Mitterrand. President Toure now runs his foundation by the proxy of his wife, first lady Toure Lobbo Traore.

Touré announced on March 27, 2007 that he would run for a second term in the April 2007 presidential election. According to final results announced on May 12, Touré won the election with 71.20% of the votes. The main opposition candidate, National Assembly President Ibrahima Boubacar Keïta, won 19.15%; [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?art_cle=36776 "Présidentielle au Mali: la Cour constitutionnelle valide la réélection de Touré"] , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 12, 2007 fr icon.] the Front for Democracy and the Republic, a coalition including Keïta and three other candidates, rejected the official results. [ [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?art_cle=36597 "Mali: l'opposition conteste la présidentielle sans attendre les résultats"] , AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), May 1, 2007 fr icon.] Foreign observers, however, endorsed the election as free and fair. [Nick Tattersall, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=nw20070501223440996C884011 "Toure camp claims election win"] , Reuters ("IOL"), May 1, 2007.] Touré was sworn in for his second term as President on June 8, 2007, at a ceremony attended by seven other African presidents. [ [http://apanews.net/spip.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=34949 "Re-elected Malian president sworn-in, 7 peers attend ceremony"] , African Press Agency, June 8, 2007.]

References

*This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on 12 April 2005.

ee also

*List of national leaders
* Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-IV), 2008.