"I am and remain a candidate for the presidency of the Republic", assured the Ivorian Guillaume Soro in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD), published on December 29. "I will organize the resistance as General de Gaulle did from London".
The former president of the Ivorian National Assembly, still a member of parliament, a former prime minister and now a candidate for the presidential election to be held in October 2020, has thus promised to organize resistance to the current president, Alassane Ouattara , from Paris.
On December 23, Guillaume Soro gave up on returning to Côte d'Ivoire after an "international arrest warrant" was issued against him by the Ivorian justice system which accused him of having prepared "a civil insurrection and miltiary "to seize power.
"It is only a question of political resistance," he insisted, denying the accusations and claiming to be the victim of "manipulation, like Lula in Brazil" intended to keep him out of the presidential race.
"Trampling of democracy in Africa"
He has since returned to Paris, where he had already spent the past six months. Guillaume Soro then clarified to the JDD that he wanted to stay there, adding that he had "not asked for any particular assistance in Paris" and had "no contact with the Élysée".
Incidentally, the opponent accused French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Côte d'Ivoire on the eve of his aborted return, of not having said "to his hosts that it was important to respect democracy in Africa".
"I was hoping that a president like him would have more courage and maturity to do so," he said, adding: "In the name of juicy contracts, we are therefore ready to turn a blind eye to the trampling of democracy in Africa ".
He also considered that the arrest warrant issued against him was "political" and therefore ineffective. "This mandate is not based on the law, but simply made to prevent a candidate from accessing the head of his country. Most European countries which defend human rights also refuse to apply this kind of mandate, "he said.
For his part, President Ouattara hammered on Saturday that "no one will be allowed to destabilize Côte d'Ivoire" and that "the law will be applied to everyone, candidate or not".
A long ally of Alassane Ouattara, whom he helped bring to power during the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011, Guillaume Soro then fell out with him, until he broke up in early 2019.
With AFP
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