Laurent Gbagbo’s PPA-CI and Tidjane Thiam’s PDCI have joined forces to challenge what they call a rigged Ivorian presidential election process. Both leaders remain banned from the electoral list. Their parties accuse the government of bias and exclusion.

On June 19 in Abidjan, PPA-CI and PDCI leaders met and launched a united front. The alliance, they said, gives them a strategic platform to push their demands and resist government pressure.

With the presidential election set for October 25, the new opposition front aims to ramp up pressure on President Alassane Ouattara’s administration. Both parties demand the government restore four key opposition figures—Laurent Gbagbo, Tidjane Thiam, Guillaume Soro, and Charles Blé Goudé—to the electoral list. They also question the accuracy of the voter register and call for its urgent revision.

Laurent Gbagbo made his position clear. “For the third term, I was not there, but I will not abandon the fight against the fourth term (...) I cannot remain silent in the face of the government's abuses after my fight for the creation of multiparty democracy in Côte d’Ivoire,” he declared.

Tidjane Thiam, speaking from France, praised the alliance. He called it an act of democratic solidarity in the face of a process he considers excluding and unbalanced. The PDCI named Thiam its official candidate in May, but authorities barred him from running due to nationality disputes. His exclusion makes him ineligible for the presidency.

This new coalition marks the latest attempt by the Ivorian opposition to unite against the ruling RHDP party. The RHDP will hold its party congress on June 20 and 21. Many supporters urge President Ouattara to run for a fourth term, but he has not yet announced his decision. His choice could dramatically reshape the election landscape.

This article was initially published in French by Moutiou Adjibi Nourou

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum