The Ivorian Head of State, Alassane Ouattara, will meet this Thursday, July 14 at the presidential palace in Abidjan, with his predecessors, Henri Konan Bédié and Laurent Gbagbo, according to what the government announced on July 6, at the resulting from a Council of Ministers.
“The head of state speaks regularly with former presidents. They are already talking on the phone. But it was also important, since it was a wish of the political dialogue, that this meeting take place. And it is in this context that this meeting will take place,” said Amadou Coulibaly, government spokesman.
While waiting for the day of the big meeting, some meetings took place, in particular between Gbagbo and Bédié, and between Laurent Gbagbo’s Party of African Peoples Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) and the Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d’Ivoire (UDPCI) of Abdallah Mabri Touakeusse.
The two former leaders had a one-on-one on Tuesday July 12, but nothing to filter from their consultation. There is no doubt that the meeting with Ouattara was on the agenda.
The day before, a PPA-CI delegation, made up of Gbagbo’s chief of staff and the party’s spokesperson, met with the leader of the UDPCI. On this occasion, the meeting between Ouattara, Bedié and Gbagbo was also discussed.
The government did not communicate on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. But some believe that the next elections (the regional ones in 2023 and the presidential one in 2025), as well as the question of opponents languishing in prison will be raised because they worry the opposition.
By OMA Newsletter N° 778 of 07/13/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
