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André Diuedonne Kolingba (born August 12, 1935) was president of the Central African Republic from 1981 to 1993.
He was an army commander when he deposed his predecessor, David Dacko on September 20, 1981. His rule saw the return of self-declared Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa to the Central African Republic, and his sentence to life imprisonment. Like Dacko and Bokassa, he persecuted several opposition leaders including Abel Goumba.
In 1992 he allowed multi-party elections and lost them, but ignored the result. In 1993 he lost fresh elections to Ange-Félix Patassé, and this time let the result stand. Before he stood down on October 22 of that year, he released thousands of prisoners, including Bokassa. Kolingba continued to lead his political party, the Central African Democratic Rally. In the 1999 presidential elections, he and Dacko were the main challengers to Patassé, but were defeated in a landslide, with Patassé receiving 51% of the vote and Kolingba coming in second place with 19% of the vote.
In 2001 he attempted a new coup against the government of Patassé, but this failed. In 2003 he apologised to a reconciliation forum for mistakes he made during his rule. In December 2004, he was one of five candidates (including the incumbent president, François Bozizé) cleared to contest the presidential election.[1] (http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44873&SelectRegion=Great_Lakes&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_AFRICAN_REPUBLIC) When the election occurred March 13, 2005 there were 11 candidates for president. The incumbent Bozizé was expected to win and Kolingba and five other candidates called for the annulment of the election although election observers called it fair. Kolingba called a shootout outside his house on March 22 an assassination attempt while the government called it a misunderstanding between soldiers. In results announced at the end of March 2005, Kolingba received third place and 16% of the vote, behind Bozizé and Martin Ziguélé.
| Preceded by: David Dacko | President of Central African Republic 1981 – 1993 | Succeeded by: Ange-Félix Patassé |