ABIDJAN – In a move that highlights the ongoing political tensions in Côte d’Ivoire, the IRS PDCI, a group of high-profile members of the opposition Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI RDA), has announced a press conference for Wednesday, September 17, 2025.
The event, titled “Lessons from the Deliberation of the Constitutional Council of September 8, 2025,” is set to take place at the Presse House in Plateau.
The announcement comes after the Ivorian Constitutional Council’s decision on September 8, 2028 to bar two major opposition figures, including PDCI RDA leader Tidjane Thiam, from running in the upcoming October presidential election.
The council’s ruling, which also excluded former President Laurent Gbagbo, has been met with controversy.
Thiam was reportedly excluded from the electoral roll due to a dual nationality issue, while Gbagbo was barred because of a criminal conviction.
The IRS PDCI, led by General Coordinator Anoman Kouao Magloire and Coordinator of PDCI Executive, the Honorable Emolo Claude, has been in a public dispute with the main PDCI RDA executive secretariat.
The group, which advocates for reconciliation and the safeguarding of the party, had previously called for an “extraordinary assembly” and a return to the party’s founding values, expressing concern that the party might miss the opportunity presented by the 2025 presidential election.
The PDCI RDA’s executive secretariat has previously called the IRS PDCI’s actions “inopportune and inappropriate,” urging them to favor dialogue and stating that the party is united.
However, the IRS PDCI’s decision to hold this press conference, just over a week after the Constitutional Council’s ruling, suggests a continuing rift and a determination to publicly address the consequences of the decision and the future of the party.
The press conference is expected to shed light on the IRS PDCI’s analysis of the Constitutional Council’s deliberation and what they believe it means for the PDCI RDA and Ivorian politics as a whole.
