The Movement of Capable Generations, the party of Simone Gbagbo, celebrated this Sunday the “Feast of Freedoms” to mark Ivory Coast’s accession to the multiparty system in 1990.On this occasion, the former first lady pleaded for more freedom and an amnesty for the actors of the post-election crisis of 2011.
Several groups of activists from several regions of the country welcomed Simone Gbagbo. Supporters of the Ivory Coast braved the rain from the west, through the south, and the economic capital to commemorate the advent of multiparty politics in their country. Simone Gbagbo wants to celebrate democratic achievements.
According to the former first lady of Ivory Coast, much remains to be done. “Today, as before 1990, I still ask that speech be freed up again in Ivory Coast. I ask that we free the media and democracy again,” she told her supporters.
It was in Bouaké that the rebellion was born, recalls Simone Gbagbo. As a former first lady and as a former political leader of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), she wishes to apologize to the victims of the crisis. And she goes even further, according to her, only an amnesty can promote national reconciliation. “Many political actors, including Guillaume Soro, are still in exile. I continue to plead for a general amnesty to release all prisoners and to allow exiles to return to their country,” she said.
Finally, Simone Gbagbo notes several dysfunctions in the current electoral process, given the local elections of September 2nd. She asks for the postponement of this election, to look into the status of the independent electoral commission and the administrative division which, in her eyes, pose a problem.