Africa-Press. The African Peoples’ Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), led by former president Laurent Gbagbo, has announced that it will hold its first ordinary congress next May, a move aimed at revitalizing the party after an electoral cycle marked by its absence from the presidential election and its boycott of the legislative elections.
The announcement followed a closed-door meeting of the party’s Central Committee held on Saturday, January 24, under the chairmanship of Laurent Gbagbo, and attended by representatives of the party’s main bodies, including the Strategic and Political Council, the General Secretariat, and committee chairpersons.
During the meeting, the party confirmed that the date of the first ordinary congress had been set for May, after it had originally been scheduled for October 2025 but postponed due to the recent presidential election.
A party official explained that the boycott of the legislative elections was a strategic choice, while the party maintains that it was prevented from taking part in the presidential election.
In a notable move, the African Peoples’ Party called on Laurent Gbagbo to remain at the helm of the party, a request accepted by the former president, despite the fact that he had announced in October of last year his intention to withdraw from political life.
Political analyst César Flan Moukè notes that the African Peoples’ Party is currently at a “crossroads,” wavering between the central role played by Gbagbo and the need to reinvent itself to ensure a lasting presence on the Ivorian political scene.
