Return of Laurent Gbagbo to Côte d'Ivoire: incidents "symptomatic of a crisis of confidence"
The police dispersed supporters of Laurent Gbagbo who came to welcome him at Houphouët-Boigny airport on June 17, 2021. REUTERS - LUC GNAGO
Text by: Laurent Correau Follow
5 mins
What lesson can we learn from Thursday's incidents between authorities and pro-Gbagbo activists?
For Séverin Kouamé, professor and researcher at the University of Bouaké, the difficulty in organizing a return without skirmishes is indicative of a climate of persistent tensions between the two camps.
We must, according to him, resolve the real reasons for the crisis of confidence.
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RFI: How do you analyze the consequences of what happened for this day of Laurent Gbagbo's return on the reconciliation process?
Séverin Kouamé:
It inspires me two things. The first is that the notion of reconciliation, at least in the Ivorian political game, is part of what I could call political objects that are poorly constructed and with poorly shared understanding. We saw this earlier when the two representatives of the different political parties or the main protagonist political parties were talking about reconciliation. Everyone has a conception of it which is particular, which is specific, which is partisan. We cannot therefore go to reconciliation without having a shared understanding of it.
The second thing is that everything that happened yesterday [Thursday] is symptomatic of a deep crisis of confidence. We must not hide our face: between the different protagonists of the Ivorian crisis, in any case what is called the Ivorian crisis, there is a deep crisis of confidence. When we remember the rather harsh words pronounced by President Laurent Gbagbo, at the time during the presidential campaign, concerning his counterpart [Alassane] Ouattara, calling him a "
liar
", When we see that the first five years of his governance, Mr. Ouattara hardly ever mentioned Mr. Laurent Gbagbo's name in any public space, you see that on this, we are in a policy of mistrust, of mutual resentment which, as we can see from what happened yesterday, is symptomatic of the fact that, beyond declarations of intention, beyond the breakdown of reconciliation, there is still some way to go.
Does this mean that despite several months of negotiations, the ground has not been completely leveled between the two camps, the preparations have not gone to where they should go?
Yes. I think that on this, everyone was in a form of losing double, because in truth, I remain convinced, without wanting to make any trial of the intention to the government, that it was not in the interest of the public power to see a wave of human beings welcome Laurent Gbagbo. This would be proof that despite these ten years, there has not been a dulling, a dilution of the attachment that a part of the population would have towards him.
So the orders that arrive at
a minimum
, the counter-orders that are never clearly established, etc., and which make a part of those who are supposed to come to support him are gassed, brutalized, are the proof that the objective is reached, the breaking wave did not come out.
On this too, on the other side, the Laurent Gbagbo clan was not as completely transparent in its communication with the government.
All in all, from my perspective, the crisis of confidence can be deep.
And this is one of the characteristics of this long crisis that we have been living for almost 30 years because, between those who have governed us and those who govern us, beyond what is spoken with lip service, the truth is that people don't trust each other.
What are the concrete actions that must be taken in the days to come to help clean up this climate?
I think there is one element that is fundamental.
Everything that we have been experiencing for 30 years has a basis: it is a deep crisis around electoral competition.
On that, we have deadlines to come.
The various protagonists must sit down to agree on the rules of the electoral game.
First of all, that's it.
Beyond the ceremonies that would give us the impression that people love each other, and that is, they would have made peace with hugs, we must address the root causes, the root of the evil, therefore clean up, create the conditions for an acceptance of the rules of the game of electoral competition.
But also and above all to work to ensure that this imperfection in our political game is corrected.
Today, we realize that all political rhetoric is completely polarizing around identities, around fears.
We have to work on it.
There must be some form of regulation of political competition, of regulation of political practice for these types of approaches to cease.
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