Yamassoum received a doctorate degree in political science from the University of Bordeaux in France, with a thesis entitled Contribution à l'étude des stratégies et techniques d'influence des États-Unis et de l'Union soviétique en Afrique sub-saharienne (A contribution to the study of American and Soviet strategies and techniques of influence in sub-Saharan Africa).[1] His thesis was accepted in 1988.[1] He has also written several works on the foreign policy of African states. In 1980, he published a work on the stance of Muammar Gaddafi in international relations, called La Politique extérieure du colonel Kadhafi (The foreign policy of Colonel Gaddafi).[2] He also specifically studied the politics of Chad, including an analysis of the political repercussions of strikes against François Tombalbaye in N'Djamena during the years 1971 and 1972.[3]
Political career
In the 1996 presidential election, Yamassoum directed President Idriss Déby's campaign.[4] After serving as President of the Constitutional Council, he was named Prime Minister of Chad on December 13, 1999;[5] he had also previously served as Minister of Education and Minister of Culture.[6] He served as Prime Minister until June 12, 2002,[7] when he resigned and was replaced by Haroun Kabadi.[8] In June 2003, when Kabadi's government resigned and a new government led by Moussa Faki took office, Yamassoum was appointed as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.[9] He left that position in August 2005 when a cabinet reshuffle occurred.
Yamassoum was appointed as chairman of the Board of the Hydrocarbons Company of Chad (Societe des Hydrocarbures du Tchad, SHT) in November 2007.[10] Later, as Secretary-General of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), Yamassoum was entrusted with leading the ruling party into 2011, a major election year—both parliamentary and presidential elections were planned. Critics argued that he lacked popularity with the party base.[4] He was replaced as Secretary-General by Haroun Kabadi in January 2011, before the elections were held.[11]
Yamassoum was subsequently appointed as President of the Constitutional Council. He headed the court when it validated the results of the April 2016 presidential election, in which Déby won re-election in the first round, on 4 May 2016.[12]
^Elisabeth Gayon; Jean Meyriat (June 1982). "Cours et Travaux Inédits de Science Politique". Revue française de science politique (in French). 30 (3): 569–634.
^Yamassoum, Nagoum C. (1982). "Les grèves des lyceens de Fort-Lamy (N'Djamena) en 1971 et 1972". Le mois en Afrique: Revue française d'études politiques africaines (in French). 17 (198–199): 110–123.