Guillaume Soro

Guillaume Soro
Prime Minister of the Ivory Coast
In office 4 April 2007 – 13 March 2012*
President	Laurent Gbagbo Alassane Ouattara
Preceded by	Charles Konan Banny
Succeeded by	Jeannot Ahoussou-Kouadio
Minister of Defence
In office 11 April 2011 – 13 March 2012
Preceded by	Amani N'Guessan
Succeeded by	Alassane Ouattara
Leader of the Patriotic Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 December 2005
Preceded by	Party established
Personal details
Born	8 May 1972 Diawala, Ivory Coast
Political party	Patriotic Movement
Religion	Roman Catholic
The office of Prime Minister was disputed between Soro and Gilbert Aké from 6 December 2010 to 11 April 2011.

Guillaume Kigbafori Soro (born 8 May 1972) is an Ivorian politician who was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from April 2007 to March 2012. Prior to his service as Prime Minister, Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire, and later the New Forces as its Secretary-General.^[1][2] Since March 2012, Soro has been President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire.

Ivorian Civil War

Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) in a September 2002 rebellion against President Laurent Gbagbo that triggered the Ivorian Civil War. In December 2002 Soro's MPCI combined with two other rebel groups, the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP), to form Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire (New Forces). He was appointed the group's Secretary-General.

Political career

Following a peace agreement in January 2003, Soro was appointed to the government as Minister of Communications.^[3] The New Forces ministers began a boycott of cabinet meetings in September 2003, returning in January 2004.^[4] After an opposition demonstration held in Abidjan in March 2004 was violently broken up, President Gbagbo dismissed Soro and two other ministers from their positions. Soro denounced the dismissals, saying they were effectively a coup by Gbagbo against the peace agreement.^[5][6] On 9 August 2004 Soro was reinstated.^[7]

On 28 December 2005, Soro was appointed as Minister of Reconstruction and Reintegration by Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny.^[8] He attended his first cabinet meeting in this capacity on 15 March 2006.^[9]

Prime Minister

Following a peace deal signed on 4 March 2007, Soro was considered a possibility for Prime Minister, and got Gbagbo's endorsement.^[10] In an interview published on 26 March, Soro said that he would be willing to assume the position.^[11] Gbagbo officially appointed him on 29 March,^[12][13] Soro took office on 4 April,^[14] and his 32 ministers were named on 7 April, many of whom served under his predecessor.^[15][16]

In a speech on 13 April, Soro apologized "to everybody and on behalf of everybody" for the harm caused by the rebellion.^[17] On 30 July, Soro and Gbagbo participated in "peace flame" disarmament ceremony, which involved the burning of weapons to symbolize the end of the conflict.^[18][19]

The peace agreement barred Soro from standing in the 2010 presidential election, and he told Jeune Afrique in a March 2008 interview that he would discuss his political future after the election. It was rumored that Soro and Gbagbo made a secret agreement whereby Soro would support Gbagbo in the election and, in exchange, Gbagbo would back Soro in the subsequent presidential election. Soro dismissed this as "gossip," describing himself as an "arbiter of the electoral process," and further said the New Forces would not back any candidate and that its members could vote for whomever they wished.^[20]

When the Gbagbo-allied Constitutional Council announced their results of the 2010 poll and Gbagbo was sworn in, Soro resigned as prime minister, supporting opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara. Ouattara had been declared the winner by the electoral commission, and reappointed Soro after taking the oath of office at a rival ceremony.

Soro was elected to the National Assembly in the December 2011 parliamentary election. After serving as Ouattara's prime minister for over a year, Soro resigned on 8 March 2012. He was then elected as President of the National Assembly on 12 March 2012, a move that ensured that he would remain a key figure on the political scene. There were no other candidates for the post.^[21]

In 2016 Burkina Faso issued an international arrest warrant for Soro for his alleged role in the 2015 Burkinabé coup d'état.

Assassination attempt

On 29 June 2007, a Fokker 100 carrying Prime Minister Soro, members of his delegation, and 20 journalists was taxiing on a runway at an airport in Bouaké when it was targeted by rocket and Kalashnikov fire. One rocket struck and exploded in the cabin, one missed, and a third bounced off the fuselage and did not detonate. Soro wasn't injured, but four people were killed and ten others wounded.^[22] Those who died were Security Chief Drissa Ouattara, the Prime Minister's bodyguard Siaka Diomandé, and Protocole d’Etat members Sékou Doumbia and Souleymane Sérifou.^[23] Arrests were subsequently reported.^[24]

References

1. Oliver Furley and Roy May. Ending Africa's Wars: Progressing to Peace, 2006. Page 71.
2. Christopher L. Salter and Joseph John Hobbs. Essentials of World Regional Geography, 2006. Page 489.
3. Anne Boher, "Ivory Coast coalition government raises hopes", Reuters (IOL), 16 April 2003.
4. "Soro meets Gbagbo, opposes multiple referendum", IRIN, 13 January 2004.
5. "Gbagbo sacks rebel chief from power-sharing cabinet", IRIN, 20 May 2004.
6. "Ivorian rebel ministers sacked", BBC News, 20 May 2004.
7. "Power sharing cabinet meets for first time in five months", IRIN, 9 August 2004.
8. "New government announced after weeks of haggling", IRIN, 29 December 2005.
9. "Rebel leader attends first cabinet meeting in over a year", IRIN, 15 March 2006.
10. "Ivory Coast rebel chief, official in talks", AFP (IOL), 14 March 2007.
11. Loucoumane Coulibaly, "Soro is ready to be premier of Ivory Coast", Reuters (IOL), 27 March 2007.
12. "Rebel leader 'is new Ivorian PM'", BBC News, 27 March 2007.
13. "Soro appointed PM", News24.com, 29 March 2007.
14. "Former rebel leader takes over as Ivory Coast's prime minister", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 4 April 2007.
15. "Gbagbo names government led by rebel", Reuters (IOL), 7 April 2007.
16. "Ivorian Premier Guillaume Soro forms a government of 32 ministers", African Press Agency, 7 April 2007.
17. "Ivorian PM’s apology captures weekend newspaper headlines", African Press Agency, 15 April 2007.
18. "Ivory Coast leaders burn weapons", BBC News, 30 July 2007.
19. "Côte d'Ivoire: Gbagbo en zone rebelle pour prôner la paix et des élections rapides", AFP, 30 July 2007 (French).
20. "Côte d'Ivoire: Guillaume Soro exprimera ses ambitions après la présidentielle", AFP, 17 March 2008 (French).
21. "Ivory Coast's Soro elected head of parliament", Reuters, 12 March 2012.
22. Rockets fired at Ivorian PM plane, BBC News, 29 June 2007
23. "Obsèques nationales pour les victimes" (in French). Centre d'informations et de communication gouvernementale (CICG). 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
24. "Côte d'Ivoire: arrestations après l'attentat contre le Premier ministre Soro", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), 30 June 2007 (French).

External links

• MPCI Official website (French)
• (French) Review of Guillaume Soro: Pourquoi je suis devenu un rebelle éditions Hachette Littératures (2005).