Pascal Affi N'Guessan

In October Ouattara will face opponents representing a broader range of opinion than in 2015 when the hegemonic RHDP's main challenger was Pascal Affi N'Guessan leading the half of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) that was no longer loyal to former head of state Laurent Gbagbo...

This time around Ouattara will face at least four main contenders: Former president Henri Konan Bédié who two years ago led his Parti démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire out of the RHDP camp; Pascal Affi N'Guessan for the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI); Albert Mabri Toikeusse of the formerly government-aligned Union pour la démocratie et la paix en Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI); Former foreign minister Marcel Amon-Tanoh...

Whoever the PDCI-RDA candidate will be a serious opposition challenge will depend on the capacity of key figures in allied movements such as Kanigui Soro (no relation) in Soro's Générations et Peuples Solidaires (GPS) Pascal Affi N'Guessan and Assoa Adou in Gbagbo's still fragile FPI and Georges Armand Ouégnin of the pro-Gbagbo grassroots Ensemble pour la démocratie et la souveraineté (EDS)...

By comparison former President Henri Konan Bédié's Parti démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) has only four MPs while the arm of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) led by Pascal Affi N'Guessan has an even weaker presence in the chamber...

There is also the thorny matter of Pascal Affi N'Guessan who led his FPI faction into a series of electoral disasters but remains the officially recognised party president...

A year ago Gbagbo's FPI appeared irretrievably split between his hardline loyalists and the moderates led by Pascal Affi N'Guessan...

Others present included Affi N'guessan who leads part of what remains of former President Laurent Gbagbo's political vehicle the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI) which was decimated in the polls and leaders of smaller parties who have decided to jump the RHDP ship...

He first met Affi N'Guessan leader of the officially recognised FPI faction...

Among those present were the First Lady Togolese-born lawyer Sika Bella Kaboré (née Sika Bella Adjoavi) opposition leader Zephirin Diabré and the leader of the Front populaire ivoirien Pascal Affi N'Guessan...

Front populaire ivoirien leader Pascal Affi N'Guessan took one of only three seats for his party in the central area of Boungouanou...

Meanwhile the officially recognised FPI headed by Pascal Affi N'Guessan hopes to do better in November's parliamentary elections than the 9% its Chairman got in last year's presidential poll...