CAR: FORMER PRESIDENT KOLINGBA DIES, LEAVES BEHIND A PARTY

UNCLAS BANGUI 000036 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C PARIS FOR RKANEDA LONDON FOR PLORD AFRICOM FOR JKUGEL INR FOR JPEKKINEN DRL FOR SCRAMPTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR CT SUBJECT: CAR: FORMER PRESIDENT KOLINGBA DIES, LEAVES BEHIND A PARTY IN CHAOS ¶1. (SBU) Former Central African President Andre Kolingba, who ruled the country from 1981 to 1993, died in Paris on February 7, 2010 after a long illness. Coming to power in a coup d'etat, General Kolingba ruled the CAR as a one party state until forced into elections in 1993. A former Ambassador to Canada and Germany, as well as Chief of Staff of the Army, Kolingba become the head of state when then President David Dacko relinquished the presidency in a bloodless coup. Former U.S. Ambassador to the CAR Daniel Simpson played a large role in Kolingba's eventual fall from power, being a central driver in calling for the country's first democratic presidential elections that brought Ange Felix Patasse into office. Kolingba's legacy is underwhelming: he is blamed for the introduction of ethnicity into politics, rarely meeting government pay rolls, and for fomenting coups against Patasse after leaving office. In 2005, the former President, who ran against Bozize, demanded five billion CFA (USD 10 million) from Bozize in exchange for support during runoff elections. The former President was even sentenced to death in absentia in 2001, though he received a pardon by President Bozize in 2003. ¶2. (SBU) Kolingba's death comes at a time when his political party, the Central African Democratic Union (RDC),is in a state of chaos. Currently in the opposition National Union of Concerned Citizens (UFVN),the party is torn between remaining with the coalition and joining President Bozize's KNK party. Just last week the party fired the head of the directory committee after he unilaterally pulled the entity out of the UFVN. Most of its prominent members defected to President Bozize's cause in 2003. Kolingba's son, Desire, joined Bozize's government in 2003 and is currently Minister of Parliamentary Cooperation after serving as Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport (NOTE: Kolingba's other son, Guy, a military officer, was originally named the Minister of Youth, but was fired some weeks later by Bozize when the President realized that he meant to name Desire. END NOTE). ¶3. (SBU) Kolingba's health deteriorated steadily over the last two years, though many still thought he would try and run for the presidency in 2010. His death in not expected to cause any civil unrest in Bangui, but post suspects that President Bozize will probably use the funeral to present himself as an heir to regimes past and rally more members of the RDC to his banner in anticipation of the upcoming elections. COOK