The forthcoming presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire in October 2025 is already generating tension between the ruling RHDP party and an opposition coalition comprising major political organisations such as PPA-CI, PDCI-RDA, GPS, COJEP and many others. Has political Côte d’Ivoire put the post-election crises behind it once and for all? With just fourteen months to go to the presidential election in October 2025, it is difficult to say yes, given the complex situation surrounding the electoral process as a whole.
What is involved? From the revision of the electoral roll to the division of the electoral constituency, not forgetting national identity cards and the composition of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), everything remains problematic to this day. It was in response to this worrying situation that a group of Ivorian political parties met on 9 August 2024 at the Maison du Pdci-Rda in Cocody. They include the Pdci-Rda, PPA-CI, GPS, Cojep, MFA and many others. In addition to their joint plan to form a coalition against the current government with a view to the presidential election in October 2025, these parties, currently led by Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, are working to draw the attention of the executive to the need to find consensual solutions to all the problems linked to the electoral system even before the presidential election.
They are determined to form a very solid, united group to obtain in-depth reforms of the electoral system from the authorities. In their view, this is an absolute necessity if the country is to avoid electoral crises with tragic and uncontrolled consequences.
‘The group does not agree with the electoral process as currently undertaken in general, but particularly to denounce the operation to revise the electoral roll as announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)’, denounces the former First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire and former MP for Abobogare, a cosmopolitan commune in Abidjan.
For these political leaders, the current electoral system is one of the main sources of the social and even sociological conflicts that have been causing serious crises in Côte d’Ivoire for a very long time now. And they believe that, despite calls from opposition parties and civil society organisations, the government has remained deaf. The opposition is also denouncing the fact that the Independent Electoral Commission has unilaterally launched the electoral process and is even proceeding, for each of the electoral stages, by force. It goes further to say that the IEC has virtually updated the electoral map and the schedule for setting up electoral commissions on the sly. The left-wing party objects to the fact that the IEC wants to organise the revision of the electoral roll from September to October 2024. This is too short a period to register millions of voters, who will need to be given the time and resources to obtain the documents they need to fulfil their civic duty. They say it can’t be done in 30 days.
Determined and resolute, the left wing of Ivorian politics is calling on the government to engage in genuine inclusive dialogue with the political parties, civil society and all the nation’s driving forces.
This dialogue should lead to consensual electoral reforms in their legal, constitutional, organisational, security and even financial aspects. All this should logically lead to an inclusive, transparent election in 2025.
As you can see, the electoral debate or ‘war’ has begun. Will the Ivorian authorities and the opposition have the necessary discernment to agree on the essentials and preserve the already fragile peace in Côte d’Ivoire? This is the fundamental concern of Ivorians.
Maria De Dieu
