[3] 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.

[7] Sissoko was appointed Prime Minister of Mali on 11 December 2012[8] following the arrest by the perpetrators of the 2012 Malian coup d'etat[9] and subsequent resignation of his predecessor Cheick Modibo Diarra.

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.

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.