Latest news with #Gbagbo
Eyewitness News
6 hours ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
I.Coast President Ouattara, 83, says will seek fourth term
ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Tuesday he will seek a fourth term in the west African country, as tensions rise over the exclusion of many heavyweight opposition candidates. Ouattara, 83, has led Ivory Coast since 2011. He had been earlier officially nominated by his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party as its candidate, but had not yet said if he would contest the October 25 election. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," he said, adding that the world's top cocoa producer was "facing unprecedented security, economic, and monetary challenges, the management of which requires experience". Critics of Ouattara accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose him running again. The opposition has accused the authorities of choosing their opponents by legal means, but the government insists the judiciary acts independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election. This alliance brings together the African People's Party of Ivory Coast (PPACI) - led by former president Laurent Gbagbo - and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam. Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro have been struck from the electoral register due to criminal convictions. Thiam was also excluded by the judiciary over nationality issues. Ouattara worked at the International Monetary Fund and the west African regional bank BCEAO and entered politics when Ivory Coast's founding president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, appointed him to chair a body on economic recovery in the midst of an economic crisis. As Houphouet-Boigny's health worsened, Ouattara assumed more and more responsibility for overseeing the country's affairs. POWER STRUGGLE When the ailing president died in December 1993, Ouattara was embroiled in a brief power struggle with Henri Konan Bedie, the speaker of parliament, and then left Ivory Coast to join the IMF. In 1995, he joined the new Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party and planned on running as their presidential candidate. But he was barred from doing so following new laws requiring both parents of a candidate to be of Ivorian birth for the candidate to have lived continuously in Ivory Coast prior to an election. He was barred from polls in 2000 on the same grounds. A failed coup two years later led to a low-level civil war, leaving the country divided into the rebel-held and predominantly Muslim north, where Ouattara drew much of his support, and the government-controlled Christian-majority south. Ouattara who was subjected to violence during the unrest, left the country but returned to contest an election in 2010. Then-president Gbagbo's refusal to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara led to another period of unrest, in which more than 3,000 people were killed, before Ouattara became president in 2011. Gbagbo was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague but still has a conviction in Ivory Coast stemming from the violent post-election crisis that ended his rule. Critics have already questioned the legality of Ouattara's third term as the constitution limites presidential terms to two. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote and Ouattara won by a landslide.
France 24
27-06-2025
- Politics
- France 24
African Union court denies Ivory Coast opposition leaders' petition
The African Union 's human rights court on Thursday rejected a petition by Ivory Coast 's ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, who argued his rights were violated by a criminal conviction that is blocking his comeback bid. The court, known as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also threw out a petition by ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro, who like Gbagbo is barred from running in Ivory Coast's elections this year because of his criminal record. Gbagbo was the west African country's leader from 2000 until he was forced from power in 2011 in a bloody civil war that brought current President Alassane Ouattara to power. Gbagbo has declared his candidacy for the October 25 presidential election, even though he is ineligible to run because of a conviction stemming from the conflict. Several prominent opposition figures have been excluded from the October election, including Gbagbo, Soro and Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI). Gbagbo and Soro petitioned the African Court in 2020, arguing their rights had been violated by the Ivorian justice system. The Tanzania -based court ruled Gbagbo had provided insufficient evidence and was not the victim of discriminatory treatment. It threw out Soro's case, ruling he had not exhausted his appeals in Ivory Coast. In 2020, the same court had issued provisional orders ruling both men must be allowed to run in that year's elections. Ivory Coast has however withdrawn recognition of the court's jurisdiction. Gbagbo, 80, who was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, still has a conviction in Ivory Coast stemming from the violent post-election crisis that ended his rule. Soro, 53, who is in exile, was sentenced to life in prison in Ivory Coast on corruption and insurrection charges.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I. Coast president Ouattara tapped to run for fourth term
Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara's party on Saturday tapped him to run for president again, two days after the country's two main opposition parties joined forces to fight his possible candidacy. Ouattara himself has not yet confirmed whether or not he will run for a fourth term as president of the west African country. But delegates accepted his candidacy after Patrick Achi, head of the congress of the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), proposed him in the president's absence. His nomination comes after weeks of rising political tensions triggered by the courts' barring of several opposition politicians from the October 25 election. Ouattara's critics, who accuse the US-trained economist of creeping authoritarianism, fiercely oppose his possible candidacy. Ivory Coast's two main opposition parties on Thursday announced a "common front" to demand that their leaders, banned from October presidential polls, be allowed to stand. It brings together the African People's Party -- Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) of former president Laurent Gbagbo and former international banker Tidjane Thiam's Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force. Gbagbo, whose contesting of the 2010 vote which saw Ouattara elected triggered violence which killed 3,000 people, is among the politicians the courts have struck off the list of candidates for president. - 'Continue the adventure' - Whether Ouattara will run again is the question on everyone's lips in the west African nation. Ouattara, who will turn 84 in January, has maintained the suspense for months. A comment made in January that he was "eager to continue serving" the country has so far been the only clue he is considering a fourth term. Ouattara is on Sunday due to address a major meeting at the Ebimpe stadium, where Ivory Coast's footballers won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2024. His supporters see the head of state, who made a career as an economist for the International Monetary Fund before turning to politics, as a beacon of stability. They loudly cheered his nomination on Saturday, chanting his nickname "Ado" after his initials. "He has to accept and listen to the cries of his children who are calling on him to continue the adventure," said Honore Adom, who came to the congress from the eastern Indenie-Djuablin region. "He has so pleased us that he must finish the works that he has begun," Lassana Kone, who travelled from Gbeke in central Ivory Coast, told AFP. - 'Envy of many' - Before the thousands gathered at the congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's economic capital, the RHDP's leadership hailed Ouattara's stewardship of the country. On his watch Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has seen seven-percent economic growth nearly every year. "Ivory Coast has made major advances on the economic, social and cultural fronts, with sustained growth that has made us the envy of many," said Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone. Equipment minister Amedee Koffi Kouakou said Ouattara had made the country "a haven of peace" in an often restive region. Yet the president's critics have pointed to the striking-off of his potential opponents from running in the upcoming vote as evidence of Ouattara's increasing abuses of power. Besides ex-president Gbagbo, the courts have also prevented his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro from taking part in the race on legal grounds. The PDCI's Thiam, who has been outside Ivory Coast since the middle of March, is barred for issues of nationality. The authorities have insisted that the decisions were taken by the independent courts, denying any political intervention in the electoral processes. pid/jj-sbk/jj
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Ivory Coast opposition weighs next move ahead of presidential vote
AI- Representative Image Ivory Coast's opposition is weighing its options after four of its top figures were excluded from the October 25 presidential race. Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), was removed from the electoral roll in April after a court questioned his Ivorian nationality. Former president Laurent Gbagbo, his former ally Charles Ble Goude and exiled ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro were also ruled out over past convictions. None of the four can run or vote. Can the disqualified candidates be reinstated? Reinstatement hinges on revising the electoral roll before an August 26 deadline which has been ruled out by electoral commission head Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who cited time constraints. Gbagbo, Ble Goude and Soro would also need an amnesty law or presidential pardon to wipe their records. "In the current context, nothing indicates we are heading towards such a decision," William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), told AFP. Do Thiam and Gbagbo have a plan B? The option of a surrogate candidate -- as seen in Senegal when opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko endorsed Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the presidential ballot after he was barred from running himself -- is off the table for both the PDCI and Gbagbo's PPA-CI. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo "Gbagbo never imagined such a scenario. He is part of the generation that blocks the political horizon of the youth in his party," said Francis Akindes, a political analyst at Bouake university. "If we put forward someone else with a chance of winning, they too will be eliminated," a close associate of Thiam said. The government insists it is not meddling in the electoral process and is merely implementing rulings from an independent judiciary. The idea of rallying behind Jean-Louis Billon, a former trade minister and PDCI dissident who says he wants to represent the party, is not under consideration. Is a boycott on the table? With no alternative plan, talk of a boycott by the side-lined opposition parties is resurfacing. "We will never again miss elections," Gbagbo said in August 2023. Gbagbo on Thursday unveiled a civic movement called "Enough is Enough" aimed at rallying social demands and resisting a potential fourth term bid by President Alassane Ouattara. On Saturday, he told supporters to be "ready for a fight". "At some point, we will have to flood all the streets of Abidjan." Assanvo, from the ISS, said Gbagbo's PPA-CI has mobilisation capacity, but for Thiam's PDCI party, taking to the streets is not part of its "political culture". "What's happening is playing out among a political elite that young people don't feel connected to," said Akindes. A source close to Thiam said the results of an election without the PDCI or the PPA-CI will have "no legitimacy". Can the opposition unite behind one candidate? The PDCI and Ble Goude's Cojep party have joined a broader opposition group known as the Coalition for Peaceful Change (CAP-CI). The coalition has two declared and eligible candidates -- former first lady Simone Gbagbo and ex-prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan. For now, CAP-CI members are calling for political dialogue and electoral reforms and are avoiding committing to a single candidate. Gbagbo's party, at odds with both his ex-wife and Ble Goude, remains outside the alliance. "This coalition is not an electoral alliance, it's a coalition to demand a fair vote," Assanvo said. "Will it change its nature? That seems unlikely."
Arabian Post
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
Ivory Coast Faces Renewed Political Tensions Ahead of 2025 Presidential Election
A court's decision to remove opposition leader Tidjane Thiam from the electoral roll has intensified political tensions in Ivory Coast, raising concerns about the potential for unrest ahead of the October 2025 presidential election. Thiam, a former Credit Suisse CEO and current head of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire , was disqualified due to his French nationality at the time of registration, despite renouncing it in February. He condemned the ruling as arbitrary and vowed to continue his campaign, warning that such actions could destabilize the country. The disqualification has drawn criticism from various quarters, including the Catholic bishops of Ivory Coast, who have called for transparent and inclusive elections to prevent a recurrence of the violence that marred previous polls. The 2010 election dispute between then-President Laurent Gbagbo and challenger Alassane Ouattara led to a civil war that claimed over 3,000 lives. Gbagbo's refusal to concede defeat and the subsequent power struggle highlighted the fragility of the nation's democratic institutions. The upcoming election is further complicated by uncertainties surrounding President Ouattara's intentions. Having controversially secured a third term in 2020 following the death of his designated successor, Ouattara has yet to announce whether he will seek a fourth term. His potential candidacy could exacerbate existing tensions and undermine efforts to foster national reconciliation. Adding to the complexity is the candidacy of Laurent Gbagbo, who has been nominated by the African Peoples' Party – Côte d'Ivoire . Despite his acquittal by the International Criminal Court in 2019, Gbagbo's eligibility remains in question due to a domestic court conviction. His return to the political arena has reignited divisions, with some viewing him as a symbol of resistance, while others see his involvement as a potential trigger for renewed conflict. Foreign influence is also a growing concern. Analysts have noted Russia's increasing engagement in West Africa, including support for Gbagbo's PPA-CI party. This involvement raises questions about the extent to which external actors may seek to sway the election's outcome, potentially undermining the sovereignty of the electoral process.
