Ivory Coast opposition expels members defying election boycott
The opposition party of Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday sanctioned about 20 of its members for running in the December parliamentary elections, despite a previous decision to boycott the vote. The African Peoples’ Party-Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) announced earlier this month that it would not participate in the December 27 poll due to […]
Alassane Dramane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire
The opposition party of Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday sanctioned about 20 of its members for running in the December parliamentary elections, despite a previous decision to boycott the vote.
The African Peoples’ Party-Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) announced earlier this month that it would not participate in the December 27 poll due to a “toxic socio-political environment” of “repression, persecution and judicial harassment”.
The decision came as the party contests the results of the October election that saw President Alassane Ouattara re-elected with nearly 90 per cent of the vote, in which the courts barred rivals Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse banker Tidjane Thiam from running.
Yet 22 PPA-CI members, including some outgoing MPs, submitted their candidacies as independents.
“Laurent Gbagbo has proceeded to revoke all their positions,” the party said in a statement.
“Serving a party means agreeing to respect it, in easy times as well as during trials. It is thus with regret but firmness that Laurent Gbagbo has decided to withdraw his trust from those who have knowingly chosen disobedience and insubordination.”
In the last legislative elections, the PPA-CI won 18 seats out of the 255 in the National Assembly.
“Going ahead in December means covering up the misconduct that took place, covering up the injuries and deaths,” Gbagbo said earlier this month.
According to an official tally, 11 people died in protests and sporadic violence on election day. Opposition figures say 27 people were killed.
More than 100 people have been handed three-year jail terms as a result of the unrest, according to lawyers.
The other major opposition party, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) led by Thiam, will still participate in the legislative elections.
However, Ouattara’s Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace party (RHDP) is expected to win.