Jacques Hugues Sylla (July 1946 – 26 December 2009) was a Malagasy

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He was the

Prime Minister of Madagascar This is a list of prime ministers of Madagascar, since the establishment of the office of chief minister in 1828, during the Merina Kingdom. List of officeholders ;Political parties ;Other factions ;Status See also * Politics ...

under President

Marc Ravalomanana Marc Ravalomanana (; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who was the President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near the capital city of Antananarivo, Ravalomanana first rose to ...

from February 2002 to January 2007. He subsequently served as the President of the

National Assembly of Madagascar The National Assembly ( mg, Antenimieram-Pirenena; french: Assemblée Nationale) is the lower house of the Parliament of Madagascar. The Assembly has 151 members, elected for five-year terms in single-member and two-member constituencies. The P ...

from October 2007 to March 2009.

Life and career

Sylla was born on the island of Sainte-Marie,

Analanjirofo Analanjirofo is a region in northeastern Madagascar. Until 2009 it was a part of Toamasina Province. It borders Sava Region to the north, Sofia Region to the west, Alaotra-Mangoro Region to the southwest and Atsinanana Region to the south. The ...

, off the east coast of Madagascar. He was the son of

Albert Sylla Albert Sylla (18 February 1909 – 19 July 1967) was a Malagasy medical doctor and politician. Early life Sylla was born to an unknown French father and a Creole mother, Louisa Sylla on 18 February 1909 in Tuléar. As a child he was educat ...

, who served as Foreign Minister under Madagascar's first President,

Philibert Tsiranana Philibert Tsiranana (18 October 1912 – 16 April 1978) was a Malagasy politician and leader, who served as the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972. During the twelve years of his administration, the Republic of Madagascar expe ...

,"Jacques Sylla reconduit Premier ministre"
, ''Afrique Express'', number 262, January 15, 2003 .Jean-Dominique Geslin
"Jacques Sylla, diplomate par filiation"
''Jeune Afrique'', August 12, 2002 . until being killed in a plane crash in July 1967. He served as Foreign Minister himself from 1993 to 1996, under President

Albert Zafy Albert Zafy (1 May 1927 – 13 October 2017) was a Malagasy politician and educator who served as President of Madagascar from 27 March 1993 to 5 September 1996. In 1988, he founded the National Union for Democracy and Development (UNDD). In ...

. He was an opponent of President

Didier Ratsiraka Didier Ignace Ratsiraka (; 4 November 1936 – 28 March 2021) was a Malagasy politician and naval officer who was President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving President o ...

and was one of the lawyers advising Marc Ravalomanana when he was elected Mayor of

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

in 1999. Sylla was also a founder of the

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

section of the National Committee for the Observation of Elections."Jacques Sylla, le Premier ministre de Marc Ravalomanana"
, ''Afrique Express'', number 246, March 14, 2002 . Sylla backed Ravalomanana in the crisis that followed the December 2001 presidential election and argued Ravalomanana's case before the High Constitutional Court. On February 26, 2002, in the midst of the crisis, Ravalomanana named Sylla as Prime Minister, a few days after Ravalomanana declared himself president. After Ravalomanana was sworn in for a second time in early May, Sylla was reappointed as Prime Minister on May 9. Later in 2002, Sylla became the Secretary General of the ruling Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM) party; this marked the first time that he had ever been a member of a political party. Sylla resigned as Prime Minister on 19 January 2007, at the end of Ravalomanana's first term; his resignation was accepted by Ravalomanana, who appointed

Charles Rabemananjara Charles Rabemananjara (born June 9, 1947

as Prime Minister on 20 January. In the September 2007 parliamentary election, Sylla stood as a TIM candidate in the Sainte-Marie constituency,Provisional results for Sainte-Marie
at Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform website . winning with 51.04% of the vote according to provisional results. When the new session of the National Assembly began, Sylla was elected as President of the National Assembly on October 23, 2007; he was the only candidate and received 123 votes from the 124 deputies present, with one blank vote. As President of the National Assembly, Sylla was an ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' member of the national political bureau of TIM and therefore remained on the political bureau at TIM's May 2008 congress. Sylla was a Catholic, a Côtier, and had dual Malagasy and French nationality.

Role in 2009 political crisis

During the

2009 Malagasy political crisis The 2009 Malagasy political crisis began on 26 January 2009 with the political opposition movement led by Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina, which sought to oust President Marc Ravalomanana from the presidency. The crisis reached its climax in t ...

, Sylla participated in negotiations between President Ravalomanana and opposition leader

Andry Rajoelina Andry Nirina Rajoelina (Malagasy: ; born 30 May 1974) is a Malagasy politician and businessman who has been the president of Madagascar since 2019. He was previously president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a politic ...

on February 24, 2009. Subsequently, at an opposition rally on March 14, 2009, Sylla announced that he was joining the opposition and said that Ravalomanana should resign;Lovasa Rabary-Rakotondravony
"Madagascar's leader in trouble"
Associated Press, March 15, 2009. according to Sylla, that was the only solution and "as President of the National Assembly, I have to recognise reality." Rajoelina appointed Sylla as President of the Transitional Congress on 8 September 2009; he also appointed a new government on the same date."SADC 'rejects, condemns' new Madagascar govt"
AFP, 8 September 2009.
''Madagascar Tribune'', 9 September 2009 . He ostensibly did so in the spirit of the Maputo agreement between Malagasy political leaders, which called for the creation of a national unity government, but the opposition denounced Rajoelina's appointments, and Sylla was considered to have completely broken with Ravalomanana. Sylla died on 26 December 2009 after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Jacques 1946 births 2009 deaths Presidents of the National Assembly (Madagascar) Tiako I Madagasikara politicians People from Analanjirofo Malagasy Roman Catholics Foreign Ministers of Madagascar Prime Ministers of Madagascar