Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo acquitted at the ICC, which leader for the FPI?

A FPI congress in 2018 in Treichville (illustrative image) AFP - SIA KAMBOU

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3 min

After Laurent Gbagbo's final acquittal at the ICC, there is also the question of the future of the FPI, and more precisely that of the current party leader Pascal Affi N'Guessan.

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With our correspondent in Abidjan,

Sidy Yansané

The former Prime Minister of Laurent Gbagbo is at odds with his mentor, the latter supporting the dissident fringe carried by the EDS platform.

Will the former Ivorian president take back the reins of his political formation upon his return to the country?

Pascal Affi N'Guessan rejects this possibility: “ 

No agreement on the reunification of the FPI has been made between President Gbagbo and myself.

 "

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To read also: Acquittal of Laurent Gbagbo before the ICC: is a return to Côte d'Ivoire possible?

A year ago, after a meeting with Laurent Gbagbo in Brussels, the president of the so-called "legal" FPI assured that his mentor, once back in the country, would be ready to lead the party in tandem, occupying Affi N'Guessan. the vice-presidency.

But since then, the merger with the EDS platform, close to the former head of state, has been compromised.

“

We do, however, differentiate between institutional legitimacy and what they might call charismatic legitimacy.

The reality is that the REIT lives on.

The ideal would indeed be for this unity to take place.

But in the current state of things, we note that there is the FPI and there is EDS 

”, explains the general secretary of the FPI-legal, Issiaka Sangaré.

Pascal Affi N'Guessan has always been considered by the “Gbagbo or nothing” fringe as a pawn of the current head of state Alassane Ouattara to divide the opposition.

For Jean-Gervais Tchéidé, vice-president of EDS, everything will depend on Laurent Gbagbo's decision: “

Will Pascal Affi N'Guessan continue to accept being the Trojan horse of Ouattara power in the FPI house? ?

I highly doubt it.

We will certainly, around President Gbagbo, reconstitute the family, and then go and give the Ivorians a credible alternative. 

"

For the "Gbagbo or nothing", there is only one priority: the return of the great chief to Côte d'Ivoire.

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• Ivory Coast

• Laurent Gbagbo