In Côte d’Ivoire, the unexpected announcement of the death of former President Henri Konan Bédié has stirred strong collective emotions. In this time of national sorrow, Laurent Gbagbo has expressed his regrets regarding certain shortcomings of President Alassane Ouattara.
Henri Konan Bédié, former Ivorian head of state and president of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI-RDA), passed away suddenly in Abidjan on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, following a health crisis. The entire nation has been plunged into a period of mourning due to this unexpected loss. In the face of this sadness, President Alassane Ouattara declared a ten-day national mourning in honor of the deceased and canceled the celebrations for the 63rd anniversary of Côte d’Ivoire’s independence.Laurent Gbagbo, his predecessor, commended this decision while highlighting certain shortcomings. During the 63rd Independence Day celebrations in Côte d’Ivoire, the spokesperson for the African People’s Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), Justin Koné Katinan, read his statement. In this statement, Laurent Gbagbo implicitly expressed his criticisms of President Alassane Ouattara and his government, emphasizing significant issues concerning the national reconciliation process and the fate of political detainees
What Laurent Gbagbo reproaches President Ouattara for The president of the African People’s Party-Côte d’Ivoire expressed his discontent over President Ouattara’s failure to use Bédié’s death to respond to his repeated request to create a conducive environment to end the political conflicts that have occurred over the past two decades.”I deplore that the President of the Republic did not seize this opportunity to respond to one of the requests repeatedly made by the late President Henri Konan Bédié, that of creating a favorable context for the definitive resolution of the political conflicts that have marred the last two decades,” he revealed.Furthermore, Laurent Gbagbo mentioned the situation of political prisoners, especially those involved in the crises following the 2011 elections, as well as the issue of the “third term.” Despite the appeals made by the late Henri Konan Bédié, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the continued detention of several important figures from these crises. According to Gbagbo, individuals such as General Dogbo Blé, Katet Gnontoa, Aby Jean, and Seka Yapo Anselme, who are part of the Defense and Security Forces, are still being held twelve years after these events.According to the former Ivorian president, the lack of clemency towards these individuals, regardless of the charges against them, combined with the absence of prosecutions against individuals purportedly close to the regime despite serious charges against them, risks transforming their corrective sentences into reprisals.