Ivory Coast Ex-President Gbagbo Announces Push For New Party

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in African News August 10, 2021

Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo on Monday proposed setting up a new political party according to his deeply divided Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

During a crunch meeting of party leaders, Gbagbo took it out on his former prime minister, Pascal Affi N’Guessan who is currently the party president.

He then proposed creating a new instrument of struggle in line with their ideology and ambitions.

A congress to set it up is very likely to happen in October.

In a statement to the party, Pascal Affi slammed the move. He regarded it as being dictated essentially by a thirst for power.

He also said the move is nothing but a desire for revenge. Gbagbo, 76, stayed in power for a turbulent decade from 2000.

In 2010, he refused to accept that the current president, Alassane Ouattara had defeated him in the polls. His refusal to concede sparked a months-long civil conflict that claimed about 3000 lives.

Gbagbo returned to national politics after his dramatic acquittal of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

However, during his years in prison in The Hague, a deep rift developed in the FPI, which Gbagbo founded in 1982.

One side is headed by 68-year-old Pascal Affi. He leads the so-called ‘legal’ faction – a term stemming from judicial authorities’ acknowledgment of his position as party president in 2015.

The other side is apparently the so-called ‘GOR’ faction – from the French words meaning ‘Gbagbo Or Nothing’.

The grass root members of the party who fervently support the former president are those backing this front.

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