The spokesman for Laurent Gbagbo’s opposition party, the African People’s Party – Cote d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), Justin Katinan Koné denounced the fraud at a press conference.
“The PPA-CI solemnly rejects the results of the local and senatorial elections, which were obtained by fraud. This is the position of the PPA-CI,” Koné told the press on Saturday, September 30.
According to him, “in several localities, the administration, especially the territorial administration, showed itself to be biased in favor of the candidates of the ruling party (RHDP). They openly worked to destroy all the opposition’s initiatives to fight fraud.
The spokesman for Gbagbo’s party also accused the administration of “issuing false receipts to undeserving voters” and deplored “the bankruptcy of the Independent Electoral Commission.”
The senatorial elections were held on September 14, 2023, two weeks after the combined regional and municipal elections. According to the results of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the RHDP won 56 seats in 28 regions.
The opposition Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI) won six seats in three regions, while independents won two seats in one region. The PPA-CI, the party founded by former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, did not win a single seat.
On Saturday, September 30, Mr. Gbagbo, president of the (PPA-CI), chaired an extraordinary meeting of the party’s general secretariat in Cocody, Abidjan.
In addition to the statutory members, the extraordinary General Secretariat was enlarged to include the members of the Strategic and Political Council, the presidents of the leagues, the president of SAFE, the anti-fraud watchdog, elected mayors and all the party’s candidates for the municipal and regional elections on September 2, 2023.
AP/lb/as/APA