Ivory Coast: towards a return of Laurent Gbagbo in March?

Laurent Gbagbo, February 6, 2020 in The Hague.

AP - Jerry Lampen

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

Laurent Gbagbo soon back in his country?

This is what his supporters announced this Wednesday morning in Abidjan.

A date is even put forward by the relatives of the former president.

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With our correspondent in Abidjan,

Pierre Pinto

"

In mid-March of this year, he will be here with us,

 " Assoa Adou said on Wednesday in front of dozens of excited party officials.

The secretary general of the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI), pro-Gbagbo, however, denies wanting to force the hand of the authorities.

He still blames the Ivorian government for

dragging things out.

Assoa Adou says she spoke to the former president on the phone this Wednesday morning.

Laurent Gbagbo would have rightly told him to announce his date to the party executives, meeting on the occasion of the creation of a national reception committee.

In mid-March of this year, he will be back with us in Côte d'Ivoire.

Assoa Adou, Secretary General of the Ivorian Popular Front

Pierre Pinto

Laurent Gbagbo's

return

has been the subject of negotiations between his supporters and the government since November.

He already received his passports in December.

And ten days ago, his supporters were already impatient with the lack of progress in this process.

The evacuation in France of Prime Minister

Hamed Bakayoko for health reasons last week should not help matters on this issue.

On the government side, it has always been said that Laurent Gbagbo could return to Côte d'Ivoire once the option of an appeal trial has been completely ruled out by the ICC, which could also rule in March.

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  • Laurent Gbagbo

  • Ivory Coast

  • Ivory Coast Politics

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