Presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire: the PDCI officially invests Henri Konan Bédié

The former Ivorian head of state and president of the PDCI, Henri Konan Bédié, during a meeting in Daoukro, on April 19, 2018, during which he announces that his party will present a candidate for the 2020 presidential election. SIA KAMBOU / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

In Côte d'Ivoire, tens of thousands of supporters of Henri Konan Bédié gathered this Saturday, September 12, on the Jean-Paul II esplanade in Yamoussoukro, the capital of Côte d'Ivoire.

They were present for a ceremony organized by his party.

With great fanfare, the PDCI [Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire] officially invested him as a presidential candidate on October 31st.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Abidjan,

A large crowd all dressed in green had gathered on Jean-Paul II square in the Ivorian capital Yamoussoukro since dawn, this Saturday, September 12 in the morning, to hear and see his candidate, Henri Konan Bédié, aged 86 .

He submitted his candidacy for the Electoral Commission at the end of August, but has not yet had time to be invested by his party, the PDCI [Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire], mainly due to restrictions linked to the pandemic of Covid-19.

Tens of thousands of his supporters were awaiting the former president's speech today.

It is about a speech of investiture but also of program whose main lines were to be revealed during the day.

A key word has already been disseminated among activists and among executives: reconciliation.

" 

 ", assure his supporters.

Reconcile the Ivorians, allow the exiles to return, foremost among them Guillaume Soro or Laurent Gbagbo.

The representatives of these two other great heavyweights of Ivorian politics were also present.

A shadow hangs over the candidacy of Konan Bédié

Since Friday, September 11, a controversy over his status as a member of the Constitutional Council by right could provoke the invalidation of his candidacy.

It is true that as a former Ivorian head of state, Henri Konan Bédié is, by right, a member of the Constitutional Council.

However, according to the electoral code, a member of the Constitutional Council must resign at least six months before an election in order to be a candidate.

One of the PDCI lawyers sent a waiver letter only on July 3.

Alassane Ouattara's lawyers then rushed into the breach and those of the PDCI immediately replied.

Henri Konan Bédié effectively renounced this quality in 2004, and the PDCI press published proof of this this morning.

Moreover, still according to the lawyers of the PDCI, Henri Konan Bédié being president of his party since 1994, he could never have been a member of this Constitutional Council since the Constitution forbids any of its members to have any political function.

Some at the PDCI evoke a blunder to talk about this letter of July 3.

Others, among the supporters we met this Saturday morning, speak of a maneuver to dismiss the Bédié candidacy.

Anyway, the Constitutional Council will decide on this candidacy, as on the 43 others, by September 16.

► To read also: Ivory Coast: why the candidacy of Henri Konan Bédié creates confusion

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Ivory Coast

On the same subject

Côte d'Ivoire: why the candidacy of Henri Konan Bédié creates confusion

Ivorian presidential election: Konan Bédié and Affi N'Guessan submit their candidatures

Was the postponement of the Ivorian presidential election mentioned during the Macron-Ouattara meeting?