Pascal Affi N'Guessan, 67, who was Prime Minister of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo with whom he now has conflicting relations, submitted his candidacy for the October 31 presidential election to the independent electoral commission on Thursday.
Read also: Presidential in Côte d'Ivoire: ex-President Gbagbo permanently removed from the lists
“ We have just submitted our application. We are running for this election with great ambitions for our country. I want to be the candidate of all Ivorians from North to South, from East to West, ”said Mr. Affi N'guessan, who came second, with 9.29% of the vote, in the 2015 presidential election.
Mr. Affi N'Guessan took legal control of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) founded by Laurent Gbagbo against the will of the faction which remained loyal to the former president, nicknamed the GOR (Gbagbo or nothing).
A "triumphant return" on October 31
These are part of the platform Together for Democracy and Sovereignty (EDS) which announced Wednesday that it wanted to submit a candidacy for Mr. Gbagbo even if it is unlikely to be validated. “ It is in the name of the Ivorian Popular Front that I am a candidate. I would like to call on all our activists to rally (...) to allow President Laurent Gbagbo to return triumphantly to Côte d'Ivoire the day after October 31, ”said Mr. Affi N'Guessan.
Acquitted at first instance on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mr. Gbagbo is on parole in Belgium pending a possible appeal trial. His supporters hope for his candidacy but he was struck off the electoral rolls following his conviction in 2018 by the Ivorian justice to 20 years in prison for the “ robbery ” of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO ), during the post-election crisis.
This final delisting should, according to judicial sources, render him ineligible. Reacting to the candidacy of Mr. Affi Nguessan, Simone Gbagbo, the former First Lady said: " He is a citizen, he can stand but he is not a candidate of my party ".
Candidates have until Monday midnight to submit their applications and do not necessarily have to be physically present. President Alassane Ouattara tabled his on Monday, calling for " peace " after the violence that has left at least eight dead since the announcement that he would seek a third term.
Former President Henri Konan Bédié, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire, was due to submit his candidacy Thursday afternoon. The fear of violence in the run-up to the election is strong, ten years after the crisis born of the 2010 presidential election, which left 3,000 dead after President Gbagbo's refusal to recognize Alassane Ouattara's victory.
