Ivory Coast: Ivorians hope a lot from the meeting between Ouattara and Gabgbo
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo will meet for the first time since the end of the post-electoral crisis of 2011 on July 27, 2021. AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO, SIA KAMBOU
Text by: RFI Follow
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Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara is due to meet his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo at the presidential palace on Tuesday, July 27.
Since the return of the former head of state last month after his acquittal at the ICC, the two men have just exchanged a few words over the phone.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan,
Sidy Yansané
Peace and reconciliation.
The two words have never been spoken so much by Ivorians who experienced a new episode of tension and violence during the presidential election last October.
Ivorians therefore have high hopes for this first meeting between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo, which is supposed to mark an important step towards national reconciliation and the appeasement of the Ivorian political climate.
►Also read: Ivory Coast: Ouattara-Gabgbo towards a more symbolic than political meeting
With the return to the country of Laurent Gbagbo, his meeting two weeks ago with his ex-enemy of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), Henri Konan Bédié, and his upcoming meeting with President Alassane Ouattara, the citizens believe more and more in appeasement.
“
It's quite a symbol.
If today, they meet for friendship, forgiveness and brotherhood, it is for the happiness of Ivorians.
It's not for war, it's to get along,
”said one man.
"
For me, given everything that has happened in the past years, given the crisis, all of this and then Mr. Laurent Gbagbo who returned to Côte d'Ivoire, for me, it is not the same thing. is new. This step will announce peace for our beautiful country,
”said a woman for her part.
But for thirty years the country has suffered from the shocks of political alliances that are made and broken.
Many Ivorians measure their enthusiasm: “
Already, the politician is playing with one thing: to divide in order to rule better.
Yesterday they were fighting.
Tomorrow, they will go hand in hand.
What's going to happen ?
We do not know.
It is up to us to become aware of the state of mind that is around.
That they manage to get along, to convey messages to their supporters and that we do not fit into certain things ”.
The hope for lasting peace remains strong, although many now prefer to judge the actions of their leaders, rather than their words.
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Ivory Coast
Alassane Ouattara
Laurent Gbagbo