The submission of candidacies for the opposition Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) ended this Friday evening. Five men will try to succeed former president Henri Konan Bédié, who died on August 1, at the head of the oldest party in Côte d’Ivoire, during an extraordinary congress scheduled for December 16.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
The parade of candidates lasted two days. It was first the former mayor of Plateau, Noël Akossi Bendjo who submitted his candidacy file to the party house, in Cocody, last Thursday. Followed, this Friday, by its four competitors.
First with the highly anticipated Tidjane Thiam, former boss of Crédit Suisse and Minister of Planning under the presidency of Henri Konan Bédié. The former Franco-Ivorian banker arrived in the morning in a festive atmosphere. Just like the next candidate, the mayor of Cocody Jean-Marc Yacé, who came with fanfare and surrounded by his supporters.
The party’s chief executive secretary, Maurice Kakou Guikahué, followed him in a less festive atmosphere, after going to lay a wreath of flowers on Place Henri Konan Bédié. And last minute surprise: the arrival of Dean Moïse Koumoué Koffi, former Minister of the Budget under Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
An electoral committee will examine these candidacies in the coming days and decide which ones will be retained for the elective congress on December 16. 6,000 party members will then have to vote to elect their new president.