Ivorian Govt denies masterminding the removal of Gbagbo’s name from vote register for September election

The Ivorian Government has denied any wrongdoing and connection with the decision by the Electoral commission to revoke former President Laurent Gbagbo from the September local elections vote register.
The West African country under the administration of President Alassane Ouattara  is again gripped in political tension after the Commission decided to remove 500 people including Gbagbo from the vote register on the grounds that the concerned people were stripped off their rights to vote by the justice.
Gbagbo, leader of the opposition party “Parti des Peuples Africains Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI)”, returned home in 2021 from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the back of a reconciliation deal.
At a media conference on Wednesday, government spokesperson and minister of Communication Amadou Coulibaly, said contrary to rumors, President Ouattara did not influence the decision of the Electoral Commission.
“I don’t see how the executive could decide to register any individual since more than 500 have been deregistered. And this is not new. I mean, this non-existence on the electoral list is not new. So I don’t see why anyone would want to make it special”, Coulibaly said after a cabinet meeting.
“Unless I am mistaken in my definition, the IEC is indeed the Independent Electoral Commission. Since it is an Independent Commission, I do not see why the Government would interfere in the decision of the IEC. The IEC makes its decisions independently and responsibly, and it is up to every citizen to respect the institutions of his country. (…) Things are changing in our country”.
“The Head of State and the current regime are doing everything possible to consolidate democracy. All those who claim to be democrats must accept the functioning of democracy, starting with respect for the independence of institutions”.
Media reports indicate that Gbagbo and former leader Henri Konan Bedie, who chairs another prominent opposition movement, PDCI-RDA, are in talks for a deal aiming at increasing their chances to win the September 2 polls.
“These negotiations and collaboration are the result of a desire for political cooperation between the two parties. By working together, the PDCI-RDA and the PPA-CI aspire to offer Ivorian citizens a credible and competitive alternative in the upcoming local elections”, ‘L’infordrome’ has learned from a source familiar with the talks.