This is the first meeting between the head of state and his predecessor since the latter's return last month after his acquittal of charges of crimes against humanity at the ICC. The r ...

Ten years after the post-electoral crisis, Alassane Ouattara receives Laurent Gbagbo

Laurent Gbagbo e Alassane Ouattara.

AFP / Issouf Sanogo / Kambou Sia

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

This is the first meeting between the head of state and his predecessor since the latter's return last month after his acquittal of charges of crimes against humanity at the ICC.

The meeting between the two figures of the Ivorian political scene must take place at the presidential palace at the end of the afternoon.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Abidjan,

Sidy Yansané

This is the event that everyone was waiting for in Côte d'Ivoire: the reunion between the official winner of the 2010 presidential election, and the one who still declares today that the victory has been confiscated.

This meeting

is considered an essential step in the process of national reconciliation, which all political parties are calling for.

Ten years after the terrible post-electoral crisis responsible for more than 3,000 deaths according to the United Nations, Alassane Ouattara will meet with Laurent Gbagbo at the presidential palace at 5 pm.

So far, the two had only spoken discreetly on the phone earlier this month.

Since his triumphant return on June 17, the founder of the FPI first went

to his native village of Mama

flew to Kinshasa

at the invitation of the opponent Jean-Pierre Bemba (his cell neighbor at the ICC), had dinner with Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, before visiting the former Ivorian head of state Henri Konan Bédié, who has become his ally since the legislative elections last March.

The meeting between the two presidents Ouattara-Gbagbo follows unfriendly statements from their respective camps in recent days.

During the Tabaski feast, a week ago, the head of state called for continuing the march towards reconciliation.

The next day, the government announced an upcoming meeting with its predecessor.

An interview that the ruling party and the FPI define above all as fraternal and serving to calm the political climate.

Several possible files on the menu

On the power side, we keep repeating that the return of the historic opponent to Côte d'Ivoire illustrates above all the return of a citizen to his home. On the FPI side, a source close to the party leadership defines the interview this afternoon as "a

courtesy visit to republican ethics

". She insists on the appeasement logic of the former head of state. In short, this reunion is first and foremost part of a logic of African fraternity.

For now, no details filter on the content of the upcoming interview.

But there is no lack of political issues.

At the beginning of the month, Laurent Gbagbo announced that he wanted to greet the prisoners of conscience of all political stripes still in detention.

The request, refused by the Minister of Justice for security reasons, could be put back on the table.

There is also the legal situation of the opponent, sentenced by the Ivorian courts during his stay at the ICC to twenty years in prison in the so-called

"case of the BCEAO"

President Alassane Ouattara had already hinted that an amnesty would be possible.

And then there is of course the political future of the two presidents.

The head of state is said to intend to impose an age limit of 75 on candidates for the supreme office, which would effectively eliminate the two men.

The two camps strive in any case to say that this first hearing plays firstly in favor of a relaxation of the political climate.

Ten years after the post-electoral crisis, Alassane Ouattara receives Laurent Gbagbo

Ten years after the post-electoral crisis, Alassane Ouattara receives Laurent Gbagbo

Several possible files on the menu

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