The Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), the leading opposition party, allied to the party of former President Laurent Gbagbo, claimed victory in the legislative elections held the day before on Sunday (March 7th), before the official proclamation of the results. .
Read also: Legislative in Côte d'Ivoire in peace, hope for a peaceful political life
"
We are claiming victory,
" declared the PDCI general coordinator for the legislative elections, Niamkey Koffi, at a press conference in Abidjan.
"
We think we are around 128 seats with our allies,
" he said, just the majority of the 255 deputies of the National Assembly.
This declaration of the PDCI comes as the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), responsible for proclaiming the results, had only announced a small part on Sunday.
The PDCI has formed an alliance with Ensemble pour la Démocratie et la Sovereignty (EDS), a coalition of supporters of former President Gbagbo, including his movement, the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI), back in the electoral game for the first time in ten years.
"
Our concern is the manipulation of the results,
" said Niamkey Koffi, warning "
the government against any attempt that would distort the sincerity of the ballot
".
He denounced "
provisional results peppered with cheating, tampering, manipulation
", as well as "
attempts to reverse the results
" in several large cities and important constituencies, where the PDCI claims victory for the opposition.
He listed the communes of Yopougon, Abobo, Port Bouët and Marcory in Abidjan, the political capital Yamoussoukro, the seaside resort of Grand-Bassam, as well as Agboville where the number two of the ruling party, Adama Bictogo, was present.
According to Niamkey Koffi, the participation rate “
does not exceed 20%
” at the national level - against officially 34% in the previous legislative elections of 2016 - because of “
fears of violence
” which dissuaded voters from going to vote.
The legislative elections on Saturday took place in general calm, unlike the presidential election of October 2020, marked by violence before and after the election which left 87 dead and some 500 injured.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/UNZA2QRWBIKDEU6WPCTUNY4HUE.jpg)
