Gbagbo and Soro Officially Back in the Presidential Race

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:31 am

Initial Bid Rejection

Two more candidates are officially in the running to be president in Cote d’Ivoire in time for the Monday night submission deadline. Both candidacy bids were filed in their absence and in spite of the earlier decision taken in August to exclude the bid of anyone convicted of a crime or misdemeanour and stripped of their civil rights by the independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The rebel leader, Guillaume Soro is candidate number 1 and now officially in the running to be the next Ivorian president. Currently, in self-imposed exile in France, the former ally of President Ouattara had his candidacy bid – which was initially rejected by the IEC, filed on his behalf.

And the other candidate, number 2, is Laurent Gbagbo. He is also in exile in Belgium and likewise believed to be irrevocably removed from the electoral list; He appears to be extremely popular and beloved amongst his devoted supporters who have formed a pro-Gbagbo coalition calling themselves “Together for Democracy and Sovereignty” and quite unapologetically submitted a candidacy bid in his stead.

Georgette Béda, EDS activist is proud to file the bid on her chosen candidate’s behalf, “We are gathered for the filing of the candidacy bid of our president, President Laurent Gbagbo.”

Similarly, Jocelyne Blé, a pro-Gbagbo activist, is impassioned, “If Ouattara is a candidate, we have to be candidates too. We have to let President Laurent Gbagbo back in the country. He must, he has to be president. We’re tired of all this. Why is he a candidate and the others are not? What quality does he have that the others don’t?”

(AFP)