Sissoko entered the government as Minister of Justice in December 1984; he held that position until February 1988, when he was appointed Secretary-General of the Presidency. He was Secretary-General of the Presidency until the ouster of
Moussa Traoré in March 1991, obtaining the rank of Minister in June 1989. Sissoko was then appointed to the post of Ombudsman on 18 May 2011.
Prime minister Sissoko was appointed
Prime Minister of Mali on 11 December 2012 following the arrest by the perpetrators of the
2012 Malian coup d'etat and subsequent resignation of his predecessor
Cheick Modibo Diarra. His appointment was announced on state television. Tensions between the military and Diarra, who was appointed due to external pressure, arose after he supported an ECOWAS intervention force of 3,300 troops to
Azawad, which ran counter to Malian military opposition to foreign intervention instead of simple financial and logistical support. It also came a day after European Union's support for a 250-member training mission for about four battalions of the Malian army. Meanwhile, the coerced resignation of Diarra was condemned by the UN; however, Captain
Amadou Sanogo said it was not coerced, only facilitated, by the military. His appointment also followed assurances from President
Dioncounda Traoré to appoint a civilian prime minister within 24 hours of Diarra's resignation after the United Nations threatened to impose sanctions over the arrest, with the
United Nations Security Council saying it could take "appropriate measures" against the perpetrators for allegedly undermining Mali's stability. A statement by the UNSC read: "The members of the Security Council express their readiness to consider appropriate measures, including targeted sanctions, against those who prevent the restoration of the constitutional order and take actions that undermine stability in Mali;" while UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon said he was "troubled" by incident which ran counter to what he said was national and international efforts to resolve the political crisis in Mali after the
earlier coup d'etat and
northern takeover. The events were also condemned by
ECOWAS and the United States, who said the military's return to politics was a "setback" to democracy. The composition of Sissoko's government was announced on 15 December 2012. It was largely unchanged from the previous government, headed by Diarra, but it was more representative of the northern regions, which were occupied by Islamist rebels. Several important portfolios were retained by ministers associated with the coup leaders, illustrating their continued influence over the government. After
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was sworn in as president on 4 September 2013, he appointed the banking official
Oumar Tatam Ly to succeed Sissoko as prime minister on 5 September. Sissoko headed the African Union's observer mission for
July 2017 parliamentary election. ==Notes==