Coastal elections overshadowed by distant Gbagbo

Legislative elections are taking place in Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday, overshadowed by a character from distant Europe – former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Almost a decade has passed since Gbagbo was forced to step down by today’s President Alassane Ouattara before being airlifted to The Hague to face felony charges of war.

Acquitted since but living in Brussels awaiting an appeal, Gbagbo plans to return home, thanks to an olive branch offered by his former rival.

His Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party ended a multi-year electoral boycott, becoming the engine of an alliance fighting for seats in the National Assembly.

The elections “mark the return of Laurent Gbagbo and his political organization to institutional politics,” said Gbagbo’s eldest son, Michel, an academic running in a constituency in Abidjan.

“This should be seen as the return to calmer democratic life and lasting peace,” he said optimistically.

Ouattara opening

Ouattara, 79, sparked political unrest last year when he announced he would run for a third term – a program that critics say has circumvented constitutional boundaries.

The clashes left 87 dead and nearly 500 injured, while most of the opposition snubbed the October 31 poll.

Ouattara won by a landslide – but for his critics the victory had little credibility and the country remained deeply in crisis.

President Alassane Ouattara has been accused of flouting constitutional limits to seek a third term. By SIA KAMBOU (POOL / AFP / File)

Seeking a way forward, Ouattara contacted Gbagbo, signaling his agreement to his return home and issuing him a diplomatic passport.

Saturday’s race to vote saw a shake up in Ivorian politics as the well-organized FPI scrambles to get the vote out.

Thousands of supporters wearing T-shirts with Gbagbo’s face took part in a campaign launch rally in Yopougon last Saturday.

“Gbagbo yesterday, Gbagbo today, Gbagbo tomorrow – Gbagbo forever, or nothing at all” were the words on a poster.

The pro-Gbagbo alliance, Together for Democracy and Sovereignty (EDS), is running candidates across most of the country.

The deaths of protesters in the violence surrounding last year’s presidential election sparked outrage among opponents of Ouattara. By SIA KAMBOU (AFP)

The left-wing coalition has struck an unprecedented electoral deal with the largest center-right party – the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) led by Henri Konan Bedie, former president and former ally of Ouattara.

The self-described goal is to win enough legislative seats to prevent Ouattara and his RHDP party from “consolidating (their) absolute power”.

The RHDP won an overwhelming majority in the legislative elections of December 2016 with 167 seats out of 255.

“We do not share the same ideology” with the DHS, said Djedri N’Goran, a senior PDCI official.

“But whether you like it or not, Gbagbo has an aura – there are entire areas, including Abidjan, where it’s ‘Gbagbo or nothing’.”

Outsider

Gbagbo was president from 2000 to 2010, a time of turmoil, division and economic destruction in this major producer of cocoa and coffee.

He was ousted by force of arms in April 2011 after a months-long conflict that claimed the lives of several thousand people, sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat at the hands of Ouattara.

His lengthy trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague was on charges he had encouraged post-election violence.

Gbagbo has remained “a major player” in Ivorian politics through his long exile at the International Criminal Court. By Jerry LAMPEN (ANP / AFP / File)

Despite Gbagbo’s tumultuous record, for many Ivorians he remains a courageous and inspiring figure, said political scientist Rodrigue Kone.

He compared Gbagbo’s odyssey to that of a “poor child fighting the bourgeois system represented by heads of aristocratic families”.

The Minister of Reconciliation, Kouadio Konan Bertin, last month paid tribute to Gbagbo, 75, as a “major player” in national politics, “whose views must be taken into account”.

It is not known exactly when Gbagbo will return.

The ICC has cleared him to travel abroad if the host country agrees, pending the outcome of the appeal, which is due by March 31.

He had previously said he hoped to return in December, but his increasingly frustrated supporters now say it will be mid-March and have set up a committee to prepare for a spectacular welcome.