Despite the controversy caused by this third term, French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on his re-election in a letter dated November 11, of which Agence France-Presse received a copy on Sunday.
“Following the confirmation by the Constitutional Council of your re-election, I wanted to congratulate you and send you and the Ivorian people all my best wishes”, writes the President of France, a former colonial power often accused of dictating his wishes to Côte d’Ivoire, in this message posted on social networks.
“In view of the violence and tensions which resurfaced during this election, the dialogue that you initiated on the 11th with President Henri Konan Bédié (main opponent) is a bearer of hope,” continues Emmanuel Macron while the election violence has killed at least 85 people since August.
The opposition challenges the election
“I hope that this first step towards unification and openness can lay the concrete foundations for a broader, more lasting reconciliation between all Ivorians and all political sensitivities with respect for the rule of law in order to turn the page of violence and division ”, underlines the French president. The meeting Wednesday between President Ouattara and former President Henri Konan Bédié eased the tension.
But the whole of the opposition (the two main parties, but also platforms including the movement of the former rebel leader Guillaume Soro) ask in particular as a prerequisite for the continuation of the dialogue the release of all the “political” prisoners, including opposition spokesperson Pascal Affi N’Guessan, the end of legal proceedings against all opposition leaders or the return of exiles.
Read also Côte d’Ivoire: the electoral crisis in six points
The opposition contests the re-election of Alassane Ouattara for a third term, which it considers unconstitutional. She had launched a campaign of “civil disobedience” then proclaimed a “National Transitional Council” supposed to replace Alassane Ouattara. Ivorian justice has launched proceedings for “conspiracy against state security” against several opposition leaders, accusing them of being responsible for deadly violence.
The fear of an escalation of violence remains present in Côte d’Ivoire, ten years after a post-electoral crisis that left 3,000 dead, as well as 300,000 refugees and one million internally displaced persons in Côte d’Ivoire, according to the ‘UN.
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