Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya

Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya (January 7, 1936 – June 20, 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. After he returned, he worked as a director at the Lycée Chaminade (1965–1967), the place where he completed his secondary studies

Political career under single-party rule Tchicaya, a founding member of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), became Minister of Vocational and Technical Education in December 1971, and in August 1973 his portfolio was expanded to include higher education; he held that post until December 1974.

Joining the Central Committee of the PCT in December 1972, 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. 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. including his seat on the Central Committee, He was subsequently amnestied in 1988. 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. He was a delegate at the 1991 Sovereign National Conference, and at the Conference he famously declared "never again!" (plus jamais ça!).

Standing as the RDPS candidate in the August 1992 presidential election, he placed fifth with 5.78% of the vote. 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 was Minister of Mines, Energy and Hydrocarbons. From 1993 to 1997 he was President of the URD Parliamentary Group. After Kolélas was appointed prime minister, he formed a government on September 14, 1997 that included Tchicaya as Minister of State for Decentralization and Regional Development; 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. A few days later, Tchicaya announced the support of the RDPS for Sassou Nguesso.

At the end of the transitional period that followed the war, Tchicaya was elected to the National Assembly in the 2002 parliamentary election 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. he received 122 votes from the 128 deputies who voted.

Tchicaya was critical of the way the 2007 parliamentary election was organized. 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. In the election, Tchicaya was re-elected as the RDPS candidate from Mvou Mvou 1 constituency in Pointe-Noire. He faced seven challengers and prevailed with 55.20% of the vote

Death Tchicaya was falsely reported to have died in Paris in October 2007. Tchicaya's body was returned to Brazzaville from Paris on July 4, and he was the subject of an official tribute in the Palace of the Parliament on July 5. His body was then taken to Pointe-Noire on July 5 for his funeral and burial. This was marked by some disorder. Youths in the second arrondissement of Pointe-Noire initially refused to allow his coffin to be transferred from the Kokolo Copa Stadium to the Franco Anselmi Stadium, which was the site of the funeral, although they surrendered it after negotiations. Some looting and arrests occurred. After the funeral on July 7, he was buried at his family cemetery of Mboukou, located in the city's third arrondissement, Tié-Tié.