Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo donned the clothes of a pan-Africanist leader on Sunday by launching a new movement, the Party of African Peoples-Côte d'Ivoire (PPA-CI), which concretizes its return to the forefront on the political scene , after ten years of absence.
"We will resume our journey together
,
"
said Mr. Gbagbo, in front of several hundred executives and activists for his first speech to an audience of this magnitude since his return to Côte d'Ivoire in mid-June.
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In a speech of more than an hour, filled with anecdotes, he returned at length to his years of incarceration in The Hague (2011-2019) and the prosecutions for 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!"
, assured the former head of state, to a standing ovation.
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Laurent Gbagbo had, unsurprisingly, been 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 for ... and we found ”
, quipped the president of the congress, Sébastien Dano Djédjé, with laughter and applause as it was obvious that Laurent Gbagbo, central figure of this party, was going to be its president.
The PPA-CI logo - the fingers of both hands intertwined in a map of Africa - was then formalized, symbolizing the pan-African aim of this 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.
Several political representatives from a dozen African countries were present this weekend for the party's launch congress.
New opposition force
The FPI, founded in hiding in 1982, is now in the hands of its ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, with whom Laurent Gbagbo, 76, is in political rupture.
But a large majority of FPI executives followed Laurent Gbagbo in this new adventure.
An absence was however noticed this weekend, that of Simone Gbabgo, ex-First Lady from whom Laurent Gbagbo recently filed for divorce.
Traveling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in recent weeks she has been multiplying the signals to trace her own political path.
This new party could become one of the main opposition forces, along with the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) of ex-president Henri Konan Bédié.
Its manifesto mentions the "obvious decline in democratic gains in the country" and criticizes in particular "financial dependence" on foreign powers.
On Saturday, the n ° 2 of the ruling party, Adama Bictogo, present at the platform of the PPA-CI congress, launched a message of appeasement.
"This new party that will be born will strengthen democratic vitality," he declared.
Regarding the next presidential election of 2025 which is already animating the debates in Côte d'Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo has left suspense on his intentions.
“At that age, after this journey, wisdom is to decide to leave.
But I have decided that I will not leave suddenly ... ”
, he declared 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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