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Ivory Coast: political dialogue still suspended

 

As many fear since the start of the dialogue started in Abidjan last week between the government and some opposition parties, to ease the political climate, the negotiations ended Tuesday evening with a new suspension, without any agreement. be concluded. The only notable advance: the holding of legislative elections next March.

What are the sticking points?

“We have not signed any document”, clarified Armand Ouégnin, president of Ensemble pour la democratie et la Sovereignty (EDS), a platform whose political referent is Laurent Gbagbo. “It is obvious that some have done it, but we did not do it”, because “we received the final grind at the beginning of the afternoon and we said that we are reserving our signature after enlightenment on certain points ”, he indicated.

Indeed, blockages persist on the release of political leaders imprisoned after the presidential election of October 31, the return of exiles, in particular ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, and the recomposition of the electoral commission, which the opposition considers. unbalanced in favor of power, an opposition official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

It should be remembered that the electoral violence linked to the presidential election, boycotted by the opposition which called for a campaign of civil disobedience, left 85 dead and 500 injured between August and November. Several opposition leaders spoke of the need for a direct dialogue between the leaders of the three major Ivorian parties, President Alassane Ouattara and former presidents Henri Konan Bédié (current leader of the opposition), and Laurent Gbagbo.

The legislative date set for the month of March

On the power side, Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko welcomed a “consensus for the continuation of dialogue”, with a view to “easing the political climate”, in his speech concluding the talks. “The problems that remain unresolved will be the subject of future sessions, the process remains open,” said Koffi Niamkey, main negotiator of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI, the first opposition party).

“The opposition platform has reservations but has not withdrawn from the dialogue, it is a dynamic”, judged Adama Bictogo, number two of the party in power, ensuring that “the legislative elections will indeed take place in March 2021 ”. “The most important thing is that the opposition goes to these elections,” he added. The power had so far evoked a poll in the “first quarter”.

Endless dialogue

No date for a resumption of political dialogue has been put forward. The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), the party of former President Gbagbo, already announced last week its participation in the legislative elections. The PDCI has not yet spoken. During his inauguration on December 14, President Alassane Ouattara called for relaunching political dialogue to get out of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, following PDCI boss Konan Bédié a few days earlier.

Several opposition leaders, including his spokesperson, former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, are being prosecuted and imprisoned after proclaiming a “transitional” regime supposed to replace President Ouattara, of whom they did not. had not recognized re-election for a controversial third term. The opponent Affi N’Guessan, will be before the examining magistrate on December 30.

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