He placed second in the August 1992 presidential election, behind Pascal Lissouba; subsequently he was mayor of Brazzaville, the capital, during the mid-1990s, and he briefly served as Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville during the 1997 civil war.
After rebel forces prevailed in the civil war, he lived in exile for eight years until an amnesty made it possible for him to return; he was then elected to the National Assembly in 2007.
[3] After Youlou was ousted and Alphonse Massemba-Débat took power in August 1963, Kolélas was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but he preferred that the post should go to David Charles Ganao and chose not to accept it.
[8][9] In the first round he won 20.32% of the vote,[9] behind Pascal Lissouba of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) and ahead of the PCT candidate, President Sassou Nguesso.
[12] Pro-Kolélas rebels unsuccessfully attempted to seize Brazzaville in December 1998, and Kolélas, who was in the United States at the time, claimed that his forces were effectively in control of the city, while suggesting that he might return home to lead the country.
[13] A few days later, Kolélas described the rebellion as an uprising of the youth, and he said that it had only been defeated due to intervention by Angolan troops on the side of the government.
[15] In October 2005, he returned to Congo from exile to attend the funeral of his wife, Jacqueline; Sassou Nguesso granted Kolélas a special amnesty for the occasion on humanitarian grounds, enabling him to visit.
In the Bacongo district of Brazzaville, excitement led to clashes between his supporters and the police on October 13, immediately prior to his return.
[15] On behalf of his party, Kolélas signed an agreement on the creation of an electoral alliance between the MCDDI and the PCT on April 24, 2007.