Célestin Gaombalet
Célestin Leroy Gaombalet was a Central African politician who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2005. He was President of the National Assembly from 2005 to 2013.Biography
Gaombalet was born in the village of Grimari in 1942. He began working for the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa in the 1970s, then became Director-General of the Union Bank in Central Africa, located in Bangui, before being dismissed from that post by President André Kolingba in 1981. Kolingba moved Gaombalet to a position at the Development Bank of Central African States in Brazzaville. In the early 1990s, Gaombalet returned to the Central African Republic, becoming head of the Moroccan-Central African People's Bank and later retiring.
Despite having no political experience, Gaombalet was appointed as Prime Minister by President François Bozizé on December 12, 2003, replacing Abel Goumba, who in turn became Bozizé's vice-president. In a reshuffle of the government on September 2, 2004, Gaombalet remained Prime Minister while the number of ministers was reduced to 24 from the previous 28; Gaombalet said that this did not affect the political balance and that it was necessary to save money. In the 2005 parliamentary election, Gaombalet was elected to the National Assembly as a Deputy from Bambari. At the opening of the National Assembly, he was elected as President of the National Assembly on June 7, 2005, receiving 78 votes against 18 for Luc Apollinaire Dondon Konamabaye, who had previously held the position under President Ange-Félix Patassé. Gaombalet resigned as Prime Minister on June 11 and was replaced by Élie Doté on June 13.
In the January-March 2011 parliamentary election, Gaombalet was re-elected to the National Assembly; when the legislature began sitting for its new term, he was re-elected as President of the National Assembly.
