IPNews-Ivory Coast Elections: In a statement broadcast on social networks, the former president of the National Assembly calls for the establishment of a transition government and asks the defense and security forces to block Alassane Ouattara.
In private, Alassane Ouattara does not hide it. Among the various opponents who are contesting his re-election to a third term, there is one he is particularly wary of and whom he would have liked not to hear from: Guillaume Soro .
This Wednesday evening, his former ally, in exile since their violent separation in 2019, surely angered the Ivorian head of state even more. In an address to the nation published on his Facebook page, followed live by about 50,000 people, Guillaume Soro severely charged what he calls “the ex-president”, this man who, according to him, is “installed in the mental pattern of all tropical dictators ”.
“Vacancy of presidential power”
“Faced with the flagrant violation of our Constitution, the blood of our compatriots which is shed every day and the dishonorable perjury of which the ex-president was guilty, I decided to take responsibility and speak up”, Soro begins, posing in a full navy blue suit in front of an Ivorian flag.
The leader of Generations and Solidarity Peoples (GPS), who saw his candidacy for the presidential election of October 31 rejected by the Constitutional Council , continues by welcoming the “exemplary mobilization” of his compatriots “which made it possible to defeat the worst farce election campaign of our nation, pitifully orchestrated by Alassane Ouattara engaged in his frenzied and perilous adventure of lingering in power ”.
Refusing any legitimacy to the outgoing president and considering that his country is now in a situation of “vacant presidential power”, Soro then denounces the “brutal repression” which targets the various opposition leaders who announced on Monday their membership to a “National Transitional Council” chaired by former President Henri Konan Bédié .
Tuesday afternoon, the police and the gendarmerie arrested about twenty relatives of the leader of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) at his home in Abidjan – home since placed under house arrest like those of several other opponents.
“Given the hunt against the main leaders of the CNT, I decide in all responsibility to join in the continuity of the work started by contributing to the effective establishment of the organs of the transition,” says Soro. With all of the living forces of our nation, we will lead the democratic transition with a view to free, inclusive and transparent elections as soon as possible. ”
Then the former leader of the rebellion of the Forces Nouvelles (FN), whom Ouattara and his inner circle have accused for months of attempts at destabilization, is even more offensive, speaking directly to the defense and security forces for ask them to block Alassane Ouattara.
“You know me, dear soldiers […]. I would like to tell you that we cannot, we must not, out of fear and cowardice, allow the clan dictatorship of Alassane Ouattara to settle permanently […]. That is why I ask you soldiers, non-commissioned officers, officers, senior officers, and general officers of our army to look at you in the mirror of your soul and your conscience and to act to stop the killings, to act for to preserve our country from intercommunity pogroms, to act to restore peace and harmony, to act to restore our Constitution to its nobility. ”
Affirming that Ouattara has “exhausted his second and last term” and that he “can no longer exercise the offices and the function of Head of State”, Soro concludes by asking them, “in honor and dignity”, “To put an end to the specter of the civil war which threatens our country every day”.
Warmongering remarks which will not fail to react on the shores of the Ébrié lagoon and in the corridors of the presidential palace.(courtesy of RFI)
