While Tidjane Thiam is announced as a candidate for the Ivorian presidential election in 2025, Jean-Louis Billon has already affirmed that he is running for the post of President of the Republic.
Alassane Ouattara has been re-elected for less than a year, but already many people want his post. With a Henri Konan Bédié who unleashed his last strength in the battle of 2020 and a Laurent Gbagbo who seems to pose as a unifying leader rather than a candidate - especially since it has not been pardoned for the "BCEAO robbery" - several politicians are already eyeing the chair of president.
And already, names are starting to come out. It must be said that no one today knows whether Alassane Ouattara, criticized after running for a third term deemed illegal, will complete his term. And it is therefore a question of being ready in the event of an early presidential election, even if it is not at all a question of that for the moment. The last campaign left traces, both on the side of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), now dislocated, and of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), which did not renew itself and left the " old man ”Henri Konan Bédié, quite alone last October. All boycotted the campaign but, in the voting intentions, "HKB" and Pascal Affi Nguessan were both announced losers anyway.
Thiam keeps an eye on Ivory Coast
The Ivorian political class must therefore renew itself. Behind the scenes, one name comes out regularly: that of Tidjane Thiam. During the last presidential election, he thought about running for a while, in particular pushed by his relatives and more particularly by his sister. Problem: the former Minister of Planning and Development of "HKB" has not set foot in Côte d'Ivoire for more than two decades. In addition, if he has powerful networks, Thiam today has no machine behind him. However, in a country like Côte d'Ivoire, it is impossible to do without a historic party or a solid militant base. This is undoubtedly what cooled the ardor of the Franco-Ivorian in 2020: despite his aura, opposing the candidates of the Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la democratie et la paix (RHDP), the PDCI-RDA and the FPI would have been political suicide.
While waiting for the ex-banker to officially affirm his intention to run for the post of president, it is the businessman Jean-Louis Billon who has just announced that he would run in 2025, taking everyone to short. Asked by La Nouvelle Chaîne Ivoirienne (NCI), the member of the political bureau of the PDCI-RDA said he was in favor of limiting the age to stand for the supreme office. But he also expressed his political ambitions.
"I will be a candidate in 2025," said Jean-Louis Billon, already assuring that Bédié "will not be a candidate" in the next presidential election. “In 2025, a new generation will arrive. It is time for this new generation to take responsibility, ”insists the businessman who had presidential ambitions in 2020 but who was forced to comply with the demands of Henri Konan Bédié. If Jean-Louis Billon predicts the return of the PDCI-RDA to business, the party will have, over the next four years, to renew itself and rejuvenate its executives. Billon will also have to make allies within a political formation which, without "HKB" as a natural leader, could well crumble.
Billon must forge a presidential stature
What is Jean-Louis Billon looking for by announcing his candidacy for 2025 today? The Ivorian press sees it as a way of "dismissing Bédié". But the businessman hopes above all to cut the grass from under Tidjane Thiam's feet. It is no secret that the former banker and minister regularly discussed with the Sphinx of Daoukro in 2020. "HKB" sees in him his potential dolphin. But within the PDCI-RDA, this possible transfer of power is not unanimous: Thiam does not really know the internal workings of the party created by Félix Houphouët-Boigny and has kept away from Côte d'Ivoire for too long. . Billon, for his part, enjoys a good popularity rating and has long been number 2 in the party, despite the unconditional dedication of the PDCI-RDA base for "HKB" in 2020.
Despite everything, Jean-Louis Billon must today remake an image. That of a leader: he advanced for a long time in the shadow of Bédié and never really established himself as a leader, passively waiting to be named dolphin by the party leader. In addition, during the events of October 2020, the PDCI-RDA activists felt abandoned, even for some betrayed, Billon not having spoken to denounce the arbitrary arrests of the Ouattara clan or to oppose the third. term of the outgoing president. Finally, the businessman is also considered too consensual: Minister under Alassane Ouattara, Jean-Louis Billon has always bred the RHDP and the PDCI-RDA, and also has a good network within the FPI. He has four years left to build a presidential stature. By clearly announcing his candidacy, he will not be able to shy away this time.