Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo officially launched on Sunday, October 17, his new movement, the African Peoples Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), concretizing his return to the political scene after ten years of absence.
In a speech of more than an hour in front of several hundred activists, the former head of state returned at length to his years of incarceration in The Hague (2011-2019) and the prosecution of crimes against humanity. initiated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), from which he was finally acquitted last year. “I will be in politics until I die!” “, he assured, under an ovation.
In the night from Saturday to Sunday, Laurent Gbagbo was unsurprisingly elected at the head of the PPA-CI by an acclamation of some 1,600 delegates present in Abidjan. “We asked ourselves: who is going to lead the party? We looked… and we found ”, quipped the president of the congress, Sébastien Dano Djédjé, to laughter and applause. The movement’s logo – two hands intertwined in a map of Africa – was then formalized, symbolizing the pan-African aim of the new party and its leader.
“Look at the world and see which are the powerful ones: it is the big countries of size, China, the United States, Russia, Canada. As long as we are in micro-states, we are nothing. African States must unite! “, said Laurent Gbagbo, alluding to the United States of Africa, a concept often mentioned but never materialized. Political representatives from a dozen African countries attended the congress.
The remarkable absence of Simone Gbagbo
A majority of the executives of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), the former formation of Laurent Gbagbo now in the hands of the former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, have joined the PPA-CI. An absence was however noticed on Sunday, that of Simone Gbabgo. Traveling in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the former first lady, from whom Laurent Gbagbo recently filed for divorce, is reportedly seeking to chart her own political path.
The new party could become one of the main opposition forces, along with the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), led by ex-president Henri Konan Bédié. Its manifesto mentions the “Obvious decline in democratic gains in the country” and criticism in particular “Financial dependence” to foreign powers. On Saturday, the number two of the ruling party, Adama Bictogo, present at the platform of the PPA-CI congress, launched a message of appeasement, believing that the young formation “Will strengthen democratic vitality” in Ivory Coast.
The presidential election of 2025 is already in everyone’s mind. Does Laurent Gbagbo plan to run as a candidate? “At that age, after this journey, wisdom is to decide to leave. But I have decided that I will not leave suddenly… ”, he said on Sunday. The executive plans to introduce an age limit of 75 to run. The head of state, Alassane Ouattara, and his predecessors, Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bédié, would then be prevented from competing.
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