Presidential election in Ivory Coast: what will happen to the RHDP after the withdrawal of Ouattara?

Text by: Pierre Pinto Follow

It is the end of a suspense that had lasted for several months, the Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara in office since 2010, that is to say already two terms, will therefore not seek a third in October 2020. His party, the RHDP, must now get back in working order to designate a candidate.

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From our correspondent in Abidjan,

The announcement surprised. Before the deputies and senators assembled for the first time in Congress, and this in order to listen to the speech of the president on the state of the nation, Alassane Ouattara first, for half an hour, detailed his results in all domains after nine years in power. “ I gave the best of myself because I love my country. I certainly did not succeed everything, but the results are there, our country is shining, he declared. "

Then after explaining to parliamentarians the changes he intends to make to the Constitution , he comments: " It is true that constitutional revisions arouse suspicion and suspicion, because they have often served as a pretext to perpetuate power or to exclude political adversaries of the electoral game. I want to reassure you, the project that I will submit to you does not fit in this way. "

Then he details his revision project, before dropping his bomb without sparing its effects: " I would like to solemnly announce that I decided not to be a candidate in the presidential election ", he repeats, interrupted several times by rounds of applause, before resuming: " and transferring power to a young generation ".

Alassane Ouattara concludes: “ I also want to ensure the conditions for the transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another, for the first time in the history of our country. "

At the exit, a deputy from the West told RFI of his relief and satisfaction. “ The environment had become heavy in Côte d'Ivoire. The fact of withdrawing will soften the atmosphere and relaunch the discussions in a constructive way , ”he confides.

“ He has just shown his peers that he must keep his commitments. He chose to go out through the front door, ”comments another elected official.

It is a very courageous decision ...

Reactions in the streets of Abidjan.

Who at RHDP for 2020 ?

All eyes are on Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, pushed by Alassane Ouattara to be the presidential candidate. He is a trusted man of the Ivorian president. Technocrat like him, at 61 he embodies the new generation to which Alassane Ouattara, 78, intends to pass the baton.

The problem is that Amadou Gon Coulibaly is neither popular nor charismatic, too technocratic for some who, including in his own camp, doubt his ability to lead the RHDP to victory. This was also the reason why a Ouattara candidacy for a new mandate was envisaged.

For months Amadou Gon Coulibaly has taken center stage and crisscrossed the field to inaugurate schools, water pumps or electrify villages while praising the record of his government .

But as the fateful date of October 31 approaches, others begin to emerge from the woods. Like Marcel Amon-Tanoh, current Minister of Foreign Affairs who, moreover, is given on the departure of the government and perhaps of the RHDP.

Another possible candidate: Albert Mabri Toikeusse, Minister of Higher Education. Relatives a few days ago argued for his candidacy in the press in what looked very like a test balloon. This surprise announcement could well whet the appetites that remained discreet.

And then there are those who do not say a word, but to whom some lend ambitions: as for the Minister of Defense Hamed Bakayoko, less technocratic and more popular than his Prime Minister. Not to mention those who remain in the shadows, but whose announcement by Alassane Ouattara could whet the appetites.

" We have the challenge of cohesion within us," recognizes Mamadou Touré, one of the party's spokespersons. Obviously a bias. "We will adapt our strategy, " commented its executive director Adama Bictogo at the exit Thursday.

The RHDP must now launch the nomination process. Will there be primaries? For the moment, radio silence. We will have to wait for a political council which should be held very soon.

► Also listen: Côte d'Ivoire: the reasons for a tense political climate

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• Ivory Coast
• Alassane Ouattara

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