Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya (January 7, 1936"Biographie de Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya, président de l’Assemblée nationale du Congo" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 13, 2002 .Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique (1997), Karthala Editions, page 446 . – June 20, 2008"Décès à Paris de l'ancien président de l'assemblée nationale, Jean Pierre Thystère Tchicaya" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 21, 2008 .) was a Congolese politician. He was briefly acting head of state of Congo-Brazzaville in February 1979 and was President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007. He also led a political party, the Rally for Democracy and Social Progress (RDPS), from 1990 to 2008.
Early career Born in January 1936 in Pointe-Noire, he was a member of an ethnic Vili former royal family of the Kingdom of Loango. Tchicaya studied at an elementary school in Pointe-Noire from 1944 to 1950. Between 1950 and 1957, he studied in Brazzaville, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy. He was sent to study in France in 1957, where he studied École Normale Supérieure in Saint-Cloud. He also obtained a Bachelor's Degree in History Education and worked on a doctorate at Paris-Sorbonne University before being recalled back to Congo in 1965. While in France, he married a Frenchwoman, Blanche Marie Duran in 1961 and had four children: Dominique, Jean Marc, Patricia and Jean Pascal. After he returned, he worked as a director at the Lycée Chaminade (1965–1967), the place where he completed his secondary studies and the École Normale Supérieure de l'Afrique Centrale (1967–1970).
Political career under single-party rule Tchicaya, a founding member of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT),"La rumeur du décès de Jean Pierre Thistère Tchicaya est infondée", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, October 30, 2007 . became Minister of Vocational and Technical Education in December 1971, and in August 1973 his portfolio was expanded to include higher education;Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique, pages 193 and 211 . he held that post until December 1974. Also during that period, he temporarily assumed responsibility for the portfolio of information, culture, arts, and sports on March 2, 1973 following the arrest of Sylvain Bemba."Sep 1973 - Approval of new constitution in referendum - Election of National Assembly - Cabinet reorganization", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 19, September 1973, Congo, page 26,090.
Joining the Central Committee of the PCT in December 1972, he held leading posts in the PCT during the 1970s. From December 1974 to December 1975, he was President of the PCT Central Commission of Control and Verification. As a political commissar of Pool region, he also became a member of the Special Revolutionary General Staff that was formed on 12 December 1975. He was included on the Council of State announced on January 8, 1976."Sep 1976 - New Council of State and Special Revolutionary General Staff - other internal developments", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 22, September 1976, Congo, page 27,940. He served briefly as acting head of state during the transition from Yhombi-Opango to Sassou Nguesso. Shortly after Denis Sassou Nguesso became president in early 1979, Tchicaya was elected as Vice-President by an extraordinary PCT party congress on March 31, 1979."Jan 1980 - General elections and referendum on new constitution - Earlier appointment of new Council of Ministers - Other developments", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 26, January 1980, Congo, page 30,059. In February 1983, he was named as president of the Banque Commerciale Congolaise and later accused by Claude-Ernest Ndalla of treason and plotting against the regime. From March 1979 to July 1984, he was a member of the PCT Political Bureau in charge of ideology and education and was the second ranking leader of the PCT. He was removed from all his positions in the party,"Nov 1984 - Re-election of President - Government changes", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 30, November 1984, Congo, page 33,201. including his seat on the Central Committee, and was placed under house arrest for two years in 1984. Although this decision was not officially explained, some speculated that Tchicaya was believed to have been involved in 1982 bomb attacks in Brazzaville. In August 1986, the Revolutionary Court of Justice sentenced Claude-Ernest Ndalla to death for those bomb attacks; Tchicaya was also tried, along with ten others, and he was given a five-year suspended sentence."Sep 1987 - Internal political developments - Economic situation - Foreign relations", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 33, September 1987, Congo, page 35,370. He was subsequently amnestied in 1988.
Political career after 1990 After splitting from the PCT,John F. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997), ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, pages 71–75. Tchicaya was part of the opposition National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP; Union National pour la Démocratie et le Progrès) at the beginning of the transition to multiparty democracy, but he left the UNDP to found another opposition party, the RDPS, on October 29, 1990.Patrice Yengo, La guerre civile du Congo-Brazzaville, 1993-2002: "chacun aura sa part" (2006), KARTHALA Editions, page 62 . He was a delegate at the 1991 Sovereign National Conference,Gankama N'Siah, "La Conférence nationale souveraine : arrive le moment des déclarations de politique générale" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 8 June 2007 . and at the Conference he famously declared "never again!" (plus jamais ça!)."Le fait du jour - Isidore Mvouba, pathétique !", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 25, 2008 .
Standing as the RDPS candidate in the August 1992 presidential election, he placed fifth with 5.78% of the vote.Xavier Bienvenu Kitsimbou, "La Democratie Et Les Realties Ethnques Au Congo", University of Nancy II, October 26, 2001, pages 104–105 . His best showing was in Kouilou Region (which includes Pointe-Noire, the country's second-largest city and economic capital), where he obtained 28% of the vote and placed second behind Pascal Lissouba. Tchicaya backed Bernard Kolélas of the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI) in the second round, but Lissouba defeated Kolélas.
After President Lissouba lost his parliamentary majority, he dissolved the National Assembly in preparation for a new parliamentary election. This led to a political crisis and the formation of a new government under Prime Minister Claude Antoine Dacosta that incorporated both Lissouba's supporters and members of the Union for Democratic Renewal (URD)–PCT opposition coalition. In this government, appointed on 25 December 1992,Africa Research Bulletin (1993), page 10847. Tchicaya was Minister of Mines, Energy and Hydrocarbons. Dacosta's "60/40" government remained in place until the time of the May–June 1993 parliamentary election, in which Tchicaya won a seat in the National Assembly. The URD-PCT opposition coalition rejected the election results as fraudulent and formed a rival government in which Tchicaya was prime minister; he was also named Minister of National Defense and Minister of Hydrocarbons in the rival government.Africa Research Bulletin (1993), page 11075. From 1993 to 1997 he was President of the URD Parliamentary Group. He was elected as Mayor of Pointe-Noire in July 1994, serving as Mayor from August 1994 to October 1997.
During the 1997 civil war, Tchicaya was the Second Vice-President of the National Mediation Committee, which was chaired by URD leader Bernard Kolélas and established in June 1997."Congo: Mediation committee set up, calls for cease-fire", Radio Nationale Congolaise, Brazzaville (nl.newsbank.com), 8 June 1997. After Kolélas was appointed prime minister, he formed a government on September 14, 1997"Congo: Sassou-Nguesso group rejects offer of ministerial posts", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), September 14, 1997. that included Tchicaya as Minister of State for Decentralization and Regional Development;, Afrique Express ."Sep 1997 - CONGO", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 43, September, 1997 Congo, Page 41800. this government fell only one month later, on October 14, 1997, when rebel forces loyal to former president and PCT leader Denis Sassou Nguesso captured Brazzaville.Howard W. French, "Rebels, Backed by Angola, Take Brazzaville and Oil Port", The New York Times, October 16, 1997. A few days later, Tchicaya announced the support of the RDPS for Sassou Nguesso."Congo: Pointe-Noire mayor declares his party's support for Sassou-Nguesso", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), October 20, 1997.
At the end of the transitional period that followed the war, Tchicaya was elected to the National Assembly in the 2002 parliamentary election"Elections législatives : les 51 élus du premier tour" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 5, 2002 . as the RDPS candidate in Pointe Noire's Mvou Mvou constituency; he won the seat in the first round with 68.55% of the vote. Following the parliamentary election, Tchicaya was elected as President of the National Assembly on August 10, 2002;, Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 10, 2002 .IPU-PARLINE page on 2002 parliamentary election. he received 122 votes from the 128 deputies who voted. Additionally, when the Pan-African Parliament began meeting in March 2004, he became one of Congo's five members.List of members of the Pan-African Parliament (as of March 15, 2004), African Union website.
Tchicaya was critical of the way the 2007 parliamentary election was organized."Le second tour des législatives au Congo reporté au 5 août", AFP (afriklive.com), July 20, 2007 .Muriel Devey, "Sur un air de plébiscite", Jeuneafrique.com, August 10, 2008 . Together with Justin Lekoundzou, the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Presidential Majority, Tchicaya sent a letter to President Sassou Nguesso on March 24, 2007. In this letter, Tchicaya and Lekoundzou urged the establishment of an independent national electoral commission to oversee the election."Législatives 2007. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya et Lekoundzou Itihi Ossetoumba adressent une lettre au Chef de l'Etat" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, March 31, 2007 . In the election, Tchicaya was re-elected as the RDPS candidate from Mvou Mvou 1 constituency in Pointe-Noire."La liste complète des députés" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 11, 2007 . He faced seven challengersGankama N'Siah, "Le sort des poids lourds positionnés dans les circonscriptions électorales de l'hinterland" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 20, 2007 . and prevailed with 55.20% of the vote when the election was held over again in his constituency in July 2007 due to problems that plagued the first attempt. When the National Assembly held its first meeting of the new parliamentary term on September 4, 2007, Justin Koumba of the PCT was elected to succeed Tchicaya as President of the National Assembly."La nouvelle Assemblée nationale entre en fonction", Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), September 5, 2007 .
Death