In the aftermath of the meeting of the main opposition platforms that signed a joint text calling for civil disobedience against the candidacy of the head of state for a third term, the party of Alassane Ouattara denounces an irresponsible act of the opposition.
“In the face of forgery, there is only one irreversible watchword: civil disobedience,” the dean of the Ivorian opposition Henri Konan Bédié claimed on Sunday in front of a packed room. This Monday, the day after the meeting of the main opposition platforms, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, spokesman for the RHDP, the party of Alassane Ouattara, believes that “we cannot call for insurrection, ask for civil disobedience”.
While demonstrations are banned by decree in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ouattara clan criticizes an irresponsible act of the opposition. “Ivorians need peace, and so now I will reaffirm here that elections will indeed take place on October 31. The government is taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of Ivorians and to guarantee the serenity of the elections,” the spokesman said.
The parties, platforms and civil society organizations, grouped in this opposition coalition, are calling for mobilization in the streets against the head of state’s candidacy for a third term. But for Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, they cannot question the president’s candidacy. “We cannot decide in the place of the Constitutional Council. They were present throughout the process leading up to these elections. Let them come and confront President Alassane Ouattara on this ground,” he said.