At 88, does Henri Konan Bédié still have the ability to mobilize?

The PDCI-RDA will reorganize one year before the local elections. The question of the leadership of its leader, Henri Konan Bédié, will arise at the next ordinary party congress.

On September 29, discussions are likely to be heated in Daoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. A political office will bring together the senior executives of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI-RDA) and the committee of wise men. A long-awaited meeting. Because since the presidential election of 2020 and the "civil disobedience" launched by Henri Konan Bédié, the oldest party in Côte d'Ivoire - one of the oldest in Africa too - has not managed to reorganize.

And while Henri Konan Bédié has, for his part, reorganized his close guard, he must now relaunch the big machine that is the PDCI-RDA. And this will begin with the election of a party president, which will take place at the next ordinary congress. But also by new themes to discuss. And to know where to start, according to JA, it is the deputy executive secretary of the PDCI-RDA, Georges Philippe Ezaley, who is in charge of the organization of the political bureau.

It will above all be a question of unity. Because the PDCI-RDA has experienced some divisions in recent months. Essential just a few months before the local elections of 2023. And inevitably, a question arises: who will be the leader of the party. At 88, Henri Konan Bédié remains the leader of the formation. It is he who pulls the strings of the party and who holds the purse strings.

"HKB", the bulwark against implosion?

But many are waiting for him to hand over. Five months ago, the "young" militants of the party had spoken of their desire to see a change at the head of the PDCI-RDA for the municipal elections. Nine years after the last ordinary party congress, the task looks tough: is "HKB" ready to hand over? The latter was re-elected in 2018 after an extraordinary congress.

On the side of the party cadres, the wait is unbearable. Several potential dolphins of the "Old" are biding their time, such as Jean-Louis Billon, who has already announced that he wants to run for the presidency of the Republic in 2025. Others imagined Tidjane Thiam come back and make a "friendly takeover" of the party, strong in its family past. Finally, within the PDCI-RDA, the pro-HKB fringe remains in the majority. "Even if they would like to see the party evolve, many young activists are in favor of Konan Bédié's re-election as party president," said a long-time party activist.

Because if the historic formation of Félix Houphouët-Boigny is still standing after several failures, it is in particular because "HKB" holds it in an almost natural way. However, after Henri Konan Bédié, what will happen? The dissensions within the party, in the event of the departure of the "Old", are likely to resurface even stronger. And without a natural leader at its head, the PDCI-RDA cannot afford to implode less than a year from a crucial election. What suggest that Bédié will remain president of the party. And that he will choose, himself, his dolphin for the presidential election of 2025.