Jacques Sylla

Who was Jacques Sylla?

Jacques Hugues Sylla was a Malagasy politician. He was the Prime Minister of Madagascar under President Marc Ravalomanana from February 2002 until January 2007. He subsequently served as the President of the National Assembly of Madagascar from 2007 until 2009.

Sylla was born on the island of Sainte-Marie, Analanjirofo, off the east coast of Madagascar. He is the son of Albert Sylla, who served as Foreign Minister under Madagascar's first president, Philibert Tsiranana, until being killed in a plane crash in July 1967. He served as Foreign Minister himself from 1993 to 1996, under President Albert Zafy. He was an opponent of President Didier Ratsiraka and was one of the lawyers advising Marc Ravalomanana when he was elected Mayor of Antananarivo in 1999. Sylla was also a founder of the Toamasina section of the National Committee for the Observation of Elections.

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.