In Ivory Coast, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) has broken off its partnership with the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), the ruling party. The two parties had signed a ” partnership agreement “, almost a year and a half ago, to build electoral alliances and work on reconciliation.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan, Bineta Diagne
In Ivory Coastthe Central Committee of the FPI considers that its ” partnership agreement » with the RHDP has become « harmful, irrelevant and obsolete ” reads a statement.
The FPI explains that it proposed a seminar on national reconciliation. A seminar that the RHDP allegedly refused. Since May 2, 2023, the date of the signing of a partnership agreement between the two political parties, ” no joint action has been undertaken by both parties in favour of national reconciliation “, deplores the FPI.
A fracture that dates back mainly to the municipal and regional elections
The fracture dates back mainly to the municipal and regional elections of September 2, 2023. The FPI accuses the RHDP of not having played the game of alliances, which led to the loss of two town halls and especially that of the Moronou Regional Council, where the president of the FPI, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, was defeated, in his own stronghold.
The RHDP management takes note of this decision. Contacted by RFI, Kobénan Kouassi Adjoumani, the RHDP spokesperson, puts into perspective the extent of ” the partnership agreement “. It evokes more of a form of ” cohabitation “, in his words. ” Pascal Affi N’Guessan was at fault in the organization of his local campaign “, believes Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, for whom the failure of the FPI in these elections is not linked to the RHDP.
As for the call for the opposition to unite on July 14 by former President Laurent Gbagbo, the FPI ” takes note ” and intends to position itself ” at the right time “.
As a reminder, the FPI was created by Laurent Gbagbo in 1982. But a political and legal dispute separated the two men for the leadership of the party, when Laurent Gbagbo was out of the country, incarcerated in Scheveningen prison, in the Netherlands, as part of his trial at the International Criminal Court. Upon his return to Côte d’Ivoire in 2021, Laurent Gbagbo decided to create another party, the African People’s Party (PPA-CI), leaving Pascal Affi N’Guessan to lead the FPI.
The FPI will hold a Congress on November 8 and 9 in Yamoussoukro, no doubt to designate its candidate for the October 2025 presidential election and clarify its position on the current political scene.
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