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The head of state, who maintains doubt about his intentions for the 2020 presidential election, called on Monday to "transfer power to a new generation."
Credits: ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP
The new "party unification " of the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) was launched on Monday, July 16, in Côte d'Ivoire, headed by the Ivorian head of state, Alassane Ouattara, at two years of the next presidential election.
"The constituent general assembly" of the new movement was held in the afternoon in a large hotel in Abidjan. The delegates of several political parties and personalities favorable to the new united party adopted "unanimously" the statutes after an hour of debate, and unsurprisingly designated as leader Mr. Ouattara, who was the only candidate declared, according to a statement.
In a second stage, a "constitutive congress" will confirm the creation of the RHDP by the end of the year, according to a manager.
The PDCI dissatisfied
Launched a week after a cabinet reshuffle, the RHDP brings together the Rally of Republicans (RDR), the formation of President Ouattara, the Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI – six MPs ), presided over by Albert Toikeusse Mabri, and personalities from other parties.
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The Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), one of the two largest parties in the ruling coalition, refused to join the RHDP, dissatisfied with the terms of the proposed alliance. He demanded as a prerequisite for the union that a personality from his ranks should be the sole candidate of the RHDP for the next presidential election. What the RDR refused, although the PDCI supported Ouattara in previous presidential polls of 2010 and 2015.
However, several elected officials and executives of the PDCI have chosen to join the RHDP. A dozen of them were appointed ministers in the new cabinet.
In his speech to the militants of the new RHDP, President Ouattara appealed to the President of the PDCI, Henri Konan Bédié.
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In Côte d'Ivoire, the RDR Alassane Ouattara pushes for the creation of a unified party
"We have to stay together (…) it's because I'm going to tell my eldest" Ouattara said, recalling the past victories obtained thanks to the union with the party of the former president, especially during the dark hours of the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, which concluded the decade of political-military crisis of the 2000s.
"Me I want the gathering. We must continue the discussions between the two presidents [Bédié et Ouattara]. We do not want to fall back into violence " told AFP Guy Kanga, secretary of a PDCI section in Bouaké – the second Ivorian city – present at the general assembly.
Confused situation
Personalities claiming three other small political parties also joined the RHDP: the Union for Ivory Coast (PUIC, 3 deputies), the Movement Forces for the Future (MFA) and the Ivorian Workers Party (PIT)
The situation is confusing for these three small parties. Their congresses spoke out against the union with the RHDP, but dissents then appeared, with internal coup attempts, which are the subject of legal proceedings. Some of these "dissidents" were appointed to the new government.
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"It is difficult to speak of a large unified party, since the RDR is left with satellite parties representing only a few percent of the electorate" comments political scientist Sylvain N'Guessan, director of the Institute of Strategy of Abidjan. "This is not what President Ouattara dreamed about. It has attracted decision-makers from the PDCI, but the base of this party remains refractory.
The RHDP "creates confusion in the Ivorian political arena. Can it exist without the PDCI? estimates Pierre Dagbo Gode, professor of political science at the University Felix Houphouet-Boigny of Abidjan. "Under these conditions, no one can win the presidential election in the first round" in 2020.
Evoking this election, President Ouattara hammered: "We will win" with the RHDP. But he then spoke of his succession at the end of his second term.
"We must work, President Bedie and me, to transfer power to a new generation in 2020" said Mr. Ouattara, arousing thunderous applause in the audience
M. Ouattara, 76, had left room for doubt about his intention to represent in 2020 for a third term, in principle defended by the 2016 Constitution which allows only two. But the drafting of this constitution leaves a legal uncertainty on the question.
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million. Ouattara said last week that he would indicate his precise intention during his address to the Nation on August 6, the day before Independence Day.
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