Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo vowed on Sunday to continue in politics “until my death” as he launched a new party following his acquittal by the International Criminal Court and return from a decade abroad.
Gbagbo, president from 2000-2011, returned to Ivory Coast in June after being acquitted in 2019 by the Netherlands-based court on war crimes charges for his role in a civil war sparked by his refusal to concede defeat in an election.
The creation of the new party, called the African People’s Party – Cote d’Ivoire” (PPA-CI), has fuelled speculation he intends to run in the 2025 presidential election. He declined to provide a definitive answer to that question on Sunday.
Gbagbo lost control of the party he founded, the Ivorian Popular Front, to a former ally while in prison for more than seven years in the Netherlands, but he retains a large and loyal base of supporters. At the same time, he suggested it was time for “the elders”to retire from active electoral politics, a reference to himself as well as to the current president, Alassane Ouattara, who defeated him in 2010, and former President Henri Konan Bedie.
Ouattara has also called for power to be handed off to a new generation after three decades of national politics dominated by the three men. Ouattara is 79 and Bedie is 87. Ouattara ran for and won a third term last year after the candidate he had designated to succeed him suddenly died.
Source: Reuters
In other news – Loyiso And Jennifer Bala Celebrates their Wedding Anniversary
Award-winning Musician and Broadcaster Loyiso Bala and his wife Jennifer Bala are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.
The pair took to their social media platforms to celebrate their special day. Today @jenniferbala and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. Learn more
