Leading opposition party in Côte d’Ivoire to hold congress on Dec. 22

Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), Côte d’Ivoire’s main position party, will hold its national congress to elect a new leader on Dec. 22, four months after the death of Henri Konan Bédié, its longtime leader and former Head of State.
The congress will take place in the native town of the founding father and iconic country President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro, the political capital of the West African country.
The meeting was initially slated for Dec. 16 but had been canceled following a decision by the judiciary after receiving complaints from two party members who have accused the top leadership of the party of imposing two candidates namely Tidjane Thiam and Jean-Marc Yacé.
Thiam, a renowned financier, is touted as the future party leader. There were three other candidates but they have withdrawn their bids.
The judiciary also argued that the complaints lodged by the two party members could herald a scuffle during Dec. 16 planned congress. PDCI has been without a leader since the death of Bedie who passed away on August 1st at the age of 89, after being admitted in a local clinic of the economic capital Abidjan.
The congress is coming nearly a year before the presidential elections.