In Ivory Coast, former banker Tidjane Thiam takes charge of the main opposition party

2023-12-23 07:46:45

The congress of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), which was held on Friday in the capital Yamoussoukro, endorsed the former boss of Crédit Suisse Tidjane Thiam, who is now looking ahead to the 2025 presidential election.

Published on : 23/12/2023 – 08:46Modified : 23/12/2023 – 08:55

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He was the big favorite in the poll. The former boss of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, was acclaimed on Friday, December 22, in Yamoussoukro, during the congress of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), the main opposition party, of which he takes the lead with the presidential election of 2025 in the crosshairs.

Tidjane Thiam collected 96.5% of the votes against 3.2% for his opponent, the mayor of the Abidjan commune of Cocody Jean-Marc Yacé.

He becomes the third elected president in the history of the PDCI, founded in 1946, after the father of the Ivorian nation Félix Houphouët-Boigny and another former head of state, Henri Konan Bédié, who died in August.

After paying a “full tribute to his predecessors”, Tidjane Thiam estimated that “the progress and outcome of the congress honored” the party.

“It is with great humility that I accept the responsibility that you have decided to entrust to me,” he added.

More than 6,000 delegates were called to vote on Friday in the capital Yamoussoukro to elect a new president for the PDCI.

The vote took place without incident at the end of the day and the results were announced around midnight. Participation reached 64%.

Receiving a standing ovation upon his arrival in Yamoussoukro, he took many selfies throughout the day.

With the election of Tidjane Thiam, 61, an age considered young to hold high political office in Côte d’Ivoire, the PDCI will rejuvenate its image.

“Our new president will have to put us back in working order. He will have to give more responsibilities to the young people of the party,” declared the interim president of the party, Philippe Cowppli-Bony, aged 91.

“We have been treated too much as a party of old people. It’s positive to see two young candidates, it’s nice,” said Ohoueu Assi, a congressman from Guiglo, in the west.

Boycott of the last presidential election

The former leader of the PDCI, Henri Konan Bédié, president of Côte d’Ivoire from 1993 to 1999, died in August at the age of 89 and did not rule out running in the 2025 presidential election.

The party, which aims to return to power in two years, also proposed Friday evening to support Tidjane Thiam with a view to an investiture for 2025.

“2025 will be a crucial electoral year for our party, we must be ready. We must prepare for this deadline tomorrow morning,” Tidjane Thiam said on Friday evening to the cheers of the audience.

At the head of Côte d’Ivoire continuously from 1960 to 1999, the former single party has not accessed the supreme office for 24 years when a coup d’état chased Henri Konan Bédié from power one evening Christmas 1999.

“If Thiam is our candidate, which I hope, we will have the capacity to return to power. He can breathe new life into it,” said Cyprien Koffi, a delegate from San Pedro (southwest).

Once an ally of Alassane Ouattara, in power since 2011, the PDCI regained its place in the opposition in 2018 and boycotted the last presidential election.

The holding of this congress was uncertain throughout the week, after a postponement last Saturday by the Ivorian justice system, seized by two activists who denounced irregularities in the list of congress participants.

The decision notably pointed to the risks of “disturbing public order” to justify this postponement and the police were deployed on Saturday morning to prevent access to the congress venue.

While the PDCI had rescheduled the congress for Friday in Yamoussoukro, the same two activists took legal action again, before finally withdrawing their complaint on Thursday evening.