Since the end of January, the President of the National Assembly Amadou Soumahoro has been traveling for an indefinite period. The head of deputies entrusted the interim to vice-president Adama Bictogo. No official reason specifies the absence of the president of the parliamentary chamber, even if many evoke health problems that the elected 68-year-old has been dragging since his installation on the perch. For the moment, the deputies speak of a trip of their president, and not of a vacancy of power.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Sidy Yansane
It is in a note dated January 21, that President of the National Assembly Amadou Soumahoro, officially entrusts the perch to Adama Bictogo, one of the vice-presidents of the lower house, and executive director of the RHDP. No specific reason to justify this absence, no return date announced either. But discreetly, deputies admit that the state of health of the deputy of Séguéla is once again the cause.
Since his election as head of the Assembly in 2019, Amadou Soumahoro has been traveling abroad for treatment, particularly in Turkey. For Famoussa Coulibaly, elected RHDP of Divo, this additional absence is not akin to a power vacuum. ” The room workshe explains, adding that the note delegating the interim to Vice-President Bictogo was approved by the Bureau of the Assembly. »
A position shared by his colleague from the opposition, MP Marius Konan, who does not see any problem related to the functioning of parliamentary activity. The elected PDCI points out all the same that this situation is part of a series of legal vagueness in the rules of the Assembly. In particular that concerning the exact definition of the vacancy of power and that relating to the attribution of the interim. Because in principle, it is the oldest of the vice-presidents who must take the perch in the event of the absence of its occupant.
The regulations should also be reviewed during the next parliamentary session in April.