Laurent Gbagbo

Back in 2010 Soro feeling betrayed by ex-President Laurent Gbagbo's rejection of the 2010 presidential election result delivered victory to Ouattara by taking his rebel army across the political divide (AC Vol 56 No 12 The election gets messier & Vol 52 No 6 Guns votes and cocoa)...

A third former head of state dominating the Ivorian political scene Laurent Gbagbo 74 appears not to face such problems in the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) he leads from exile in Brussels...

But the surprise acquittal of former president Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in January changed the mood and injected a new factor of uncertainty into the electoral outlook (AC Vol 60 No 2 A rapidly growing field)...

Less than a week later the International Criminal Court confirmed the acquittal of former President Laurent Gbagbo and his Youth Minister Charles Blé Goudé on charges of crimes against humanity prompting simultaneous scenes in Abdijan of jubilation and dismay...

If confirmed at a review hearing set for 1 February the acquittal of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court (ICC) will inject further momentum into a comprehensive recomposition of the political landscape that is already well under way...

Laurent Gbagbo was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison for breaking into the Abidjan branch of the regional central bank when his regime ran short of funds...

Others present included Affi N'guessan who leads part of what remains of former President Laurent Gbagbo's political vehicle the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI) which was decimated in the polls and leaders of smaller parties who have decided to jump the RHDP ship...

The other larger faction led by Aboudramane Sangaré remains loyal to ex-President Laurent Gbagbo currently on trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity...

There is the coalition Ensemble pour la démocratie et la souveraineté (EDS) consisting of faithful disciples of former President Laurent Gbagbo but it is weak...

The Front Populaire Ivoirien split down the middle and recovering from a bruising defeat in the last legislative elections has yet to find its feet and may find itself overtaken by Liberté et Démocratie pour la République (LIDER) a more radical voice led by Mamadou Koulibaly who was Speaker of Parliament during most of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo's presidency (AC Vol 56 No 22 Ouattara walks it)...

Supporters of his predecessor as President Laurent Gbagbo on the other hand saw it as a clever ploy to take the top job in the governing Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la démocratie et la paix (RHDP) which is principally an alliance between the RDR and its junior partner the former ruling party the Parti démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI)...

Pro-Laurent Gbagbo sources were adamant that it was to keep their hero in The Hague: Ouattara could have been discussing the series of recent armed attacks against police stations in which two of Gbagbo's closest collaborators Stéphane Kipré and Damana Pickass have been accused of involvement and would argue that Gbagbo was behind them...