Laurent Gbagbo: “It’s a fight, so we’re going to fight” (video)
Excluded from the list of candidates selected for the upcoming presidential election by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo strongly reacted before his supporters. During a rally, he denounced an “insult” to his honor and an obvious attempt at political exclusion. At 80, he refuses to be marginalized.
SUMMARY
“A list was published without the name Gbagbo Laurent,” he declared, visibly upset. According to him, his exclusion is based on unfounded embezzlement accusations. “I am not a thief. And those who made the list know that I am not a thief,” he insisted.
For the former head of state, this decision has no legal basis. He sees it as a provocation and a deliberate maneuver to remove him from the political scene, just like other figures such as Guillaume Soro, who are also absent from the list. “Since they want a fight, we will fight,” he warned, asserting that this battle will be waged in the name of honor and justice.
“They looked for me, they found me. It’s a fight, we will fight till the end.”
In a speech mixing anger and determination, Gbagbo criticized what he sees as an orchestrated attempt to humiliate him by those in power. “You find me in Côte d’Ivoire and you want to trample on me in Côte d’Ivoire? It can’t happen like that,” he declared, reminding the struggles of his ancestors against French colonizers and Nazis to illustrate his own resilience. “I know how to take hits, but I also know how to give them,” he warned.
In response to criticisms about his age and legitimacy, he claimed his experience and his loyalty to his political convictions, not hesitating to revisit the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 to contest the legitimacy of the power resulting from that period.
No to the Fourth Term
Laurent Gbagbo also took aim at the idea of a fourth presidential term, targeting Alassane Ouattara without naming him. He denounced a distortion of the spirit of the Constitution, which is supposed to limit presidential terms to two. “You want to do your 4th term? Isn’t too much too much?” he questioned, rejecting a “dodgy legal right” used to bypass the rules with every constitutional revision.
Addressing the youth, he called for mobilization, believing that the upcoming battle will be unavoidable. “Be ready for the fight. They want a fight, we will fight,” he declared. He emphasized the need to wisely choose the timing and manner of action because “You don’t fight just anytime or in any way.”
Finally, the former president outlined his vision of a fairer Côte d’Ivoire, with free education, fair access to healthcare, and genuine social justice. He denounced judicial pressures on his supporters and the detention of opponents, which he views as worrying signs of growing authoritarianism.
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