The 8th Extraordinary Congress of the PDCI, which will be held on December 16, is raising many expectations and preparations within the party. To ensure the smooth running of this important event, several structures have been put in place, including an organizing committee, an electoral committee and a conciliation and consensus-seeking college.
This college, placed under the supervision of Professor Philippe Cowppli-Bony, current interim president of the PDCI, aims to preserve the unity of the party by dialoguing with each candidate and addressing sensitive subjects. Currently, four personalities are announced to run for the presidency of the party: Maurice Kakou Guikahué, current executive secretary, Noël Akossi Bendjo, one of the vice-presidents, Jean-Marc Yacé, mayor of Cocody, and Tidjane Thiam.
However, these candidacies have sparked several debates among PDCI activists. One question arises in particular: will the future president of the party also be the candidate for the 2025 presidential election? Some wonder if the party has time to prepare a separate figure for this important deadline.
Additionally, two of the potential candidates have pending legal cases, raising questions about allowing them to run and potentially weakening the party presidency. In addition, Tidjane Thiam’s detractors question his regular participation in the party’s political office after 22 years of absence from the country.
In the event of non-consensus, it will therefore be up to the candidacy selection panel to decide on the validity of each file, in order to guarantee a transparent and fair electoral process.
The 8th Extraordinary Congress of the PDCI therefore arouses great interest and numerous discussions within the party. Activists are impatiently waiting to see which candidate will be elected to the presidency and what direction will be taken in the run-up to the 2025 presidential election. The next few months will therefore be decisive for the PDCI and for Ivorian politics as a whole.