Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who is also the governing party’s candidate for an October presidential election, breathed his last on Wednesday, just a few days after returning from two months of medical treatment in France, reported Reuters.
The 61-year-old Gon Coulibaly had heart surgery in 2012 and had just returned from cardiac examinations in France. Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko had served as interim prime minister when Coulibaly was away for treatment.
“Fellow compatriots, Ivory Coast is mourning. It is with deep pain that I announce to you that Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly has left us,” Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said in a statement read on national television by the presidency’s secretary-general.
Ouattara said Gon Coulibaly became unwell on Wednesday after taking part in the weekly cabinet meeting and was taken to an Ivory Coast hospital, where he passed away.
In a tweet, Ouattara paid tribute to “my younger brother, my son, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who was, for 30 years, my closest partner”.
“I salute the memory of a statesman of great loyalty, devotion and love for his country,” he added.
Initially, it was speculated Ouattara would extend his rule, but he eventually said he would not run. The president had designated Gon Coulibaly as the RHDP candidate in March after announcing that he himself would not seek a third term.
Ex-president Henri Konan Bedie is the other main candidate in the October election. He had declared he would run in the upcoming election last month. Former prime minister and ex-rebel leader Guillaume Soro was also considered a contender but in April was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison for embezzlement.
Notably, Ouattara’s first election win in 2010, when he defeated Laurent Gbagbo, sparked a brief civil war in Ivory Coast that killed about 3,000 people died. Political tensions have been rising ahead of October’s poll.
