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Bloomberg
Ivory Coast opposition leader Henri Konan Bedie vowed to welcome back exiled citizens and free political prisoners should he be elected president of the world’s biggest cocoa producer in next month’s elections.
“I pledge to take concrete and immediate measures for the unconditional return of all exiles,†he said to a packed rally of his Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) in the capital Yamoussoukro.
He was speaking days before the constitutional council is set to confirm the list of candidates who are cleared to run in the October vote. Some 44 people have applied, including exiled ex-speaker of parliament and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, as well as former president Laurent Gbagbo, who remains in Belgium after he was acquitted of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
Bedie, 86, is set to be President Alassane Ouattara’s main challenger. Violent protests broke out last month after the incumbent announced he would be seeking a third successive term following the death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who was Ouattara’s preferred candidate from his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace party.
The country is headed for its most tense election since
Ouattara took office in 2011 following five months of post-electoral violence triggered
by Gbagbo’s refusal to concede defeat.