Ivorian presidential election: Henri Konan Bédié appointed candidate of his party

Former Ivorian head of state Henri Konan Bédié was nominated for the presidential election of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI, opposition) with 99.7% of the votes following a convention of this party , he announced Monday in Abidjan.

The “provisional results” of the delegates' votes on Sunday “highlight my election with a score of 99.7%. It is a real plebiscite,” he said during a press briefing at his residence in Paris. 'Abidjan, before adding: "The joy that animates me on this day is immense. I am happy and proud to have been elected as a candidate of the PDCI."

Driven from power by a putsch in 1999, Henri Konan Bédié tries once again to take over the leadership of the country, despite criticism of his advanced age, 86, which he considers on the contrary to be "an asset".

Nicknamed for his rare words and his enigmatic side the "Sphinx of Daoukro" - his stronghold in the interior of the Ivory Coast -, Henri Konan Bédié was the only candidate of the former single party that reigned over the country for three decades after independence, under the presidency of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, his mentor, who died in power at the age of 88.

"For us at the PDCI, age is an asset. Age brings together experience and also competence", he said on Sunday, questioned by journalists about the controversy over advanced age presidential candidates.

The one who will be the dean of the presidential election on October 31, ten years after its failure in the 2010 election, nevertheless claims to stand to defend "the new generations". The octogenarian promises a "victory which will allow the young people of Côte d'Ivoire to access full and complete responsibilities in the management of public affairs".

Other PDCI officials, in their fifties, who have considered or tried to run for office, withdrew in front of him, such as businessman Jean-Louis Billon. As for the candidacy of Kouadio Konan Bertin, it was invalidated by the nomination committee.

"HKB" had an early career. Born on May 5, 1934 in the village of Dadiékro, in Baoulé country, in a family of cocoa planters, he became ambassador at the age of 26 from a barely independent Ivory Coast, then Minister of the Economy in 32 years of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a Baoulé like him, and of which he claims to be the successor.

"He wants his revenge"

His career came to a halt after accusations of corruption, but he rebounded to become president of the National Assembly and establish himself as the natural dolphin of Houphouët-Boigny and control the PDCI without sharing.

After the death of his mentor in 1993, he succeeded him after a power struggle against Alassane Ouattara, the current president. Henri Konan Bédié then developed the nationalist concept of "ivoirité", which means that the four grandparents of an Ivorian were born in the country and that he must have lived there for the last five years to be eligible - a maneuver intended to remove Alassane Ouattara from the 1995 presidential election, at the time a senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and domiciled in the United States.

Once elected, without any major opponent, HKB surfs on nationalism but its presidency, undermined by corruption, collapses in a few hours at Christmas 1999 in the face of a mutiny of soldiers which turns into a military putsch, the first in history from the country.

"Today, he wants his revenge on this putsch that he mismanaged. He also wants his revenge on Ouattara, whom he supported (in 2010) but who, according to him, did not respect his commitment to give back the power in the PDCI in 2020. He does not want to remain in history as the one who lost the power of the PDCI of Houphouët, "said an observer.

Lover of cigars and good wines, HKB, whom many describe as "very close to his pennies", had indeed allied with his former enemy in 2005 to create an electoral alliance, the Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la democratie et la paix (RHDP).

Third in the 2010 presidential election behind Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, Henri Konan Bédié keeps his commitment and actively supports the latter throughout the post-election crisis (2010-2011), which killed nearly 3,000 people in a few months.

After a honeymoon (Alassane Ouattara even had the third bridge in Abidjan named Bédié) with the head of state, whom he still supports in the 2015 presidential election, HKB again fell out with him in 2018, due to the presidential election next October.

Once officially invested by his party, Mr. Bédié will have to convince voters in the October presidential election that at 86, he is not too old to lead the country.

With AFP

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