Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo’s political party, The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), on Wednesday announced it will take part in legislative elections after having boycotted the elections for the past ten years, reported Africa News. The party made the announcement following a meeting of its central committee.
The FPI, which was in power under Gbagbo from 2000 to 2010, had boycotted all elections after its chief was arrested in 2011 and transferred to the ICC. Gbagbo was overthrown in 2011 after refusing to accept defeat to President Alassane Ouattara in presidential elections, resulting in violence that claimed about 3,000 lives.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) tried Gbagbo and his former right-hand man, Charles Ble Goude, 48, on charges of crimes against humanity. The two were acquitted in 2019, and remain free pending the outcome of an appeal. Gbagbo is currently residing in Brussels.
On Wednesday, the party promised to “give itself the means to win” the vote and said that it would work with other opposition parties.
The announcement comes as Ivory Coast faces a months-long crisis sparked by President Ouattara’s decision to seek a third term – a move the opposition claims is unconstitutional.
The 78-years-old Ouattara won the October 31 vote by a landslide as every major opposition candidate boycotted the polls. Opposition groups said Ouattara violated the constitution, which limits presidents to two terms.
But Ouattara had maintained that a new constitution passed in 2016 allowed him to restart his mandate. When the election commission declared him the winner, the opposition cried foul and announced the formation of a rival transitional government in protest.
The security forces arrested several opposition leaders and launched legal proceedings over “sedition” against them. Pre- and post-election violence has killed more than 85 people in Ivory Coast since August, according to an official toll.
