This had been brewing for some time. More specifically, Jean-Louis Billon's announcement that he will run as a candidate in the 2025 presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire. Indeed, the 59-year-old former Minister of Trade and head of Sifca, the country's leading private group, has decided not to miss his turn, thus placing himself in a situation of competition and even direct confrontation with the President of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), Tidjane Thiam.
The PDCI leadership has reacted and here he is summoned to explain himself before the disciplinary committee of the Party, on 4 December next. The reasons given in a document that Geopolitics.fr has been able to obtain are as follows: «breach of Party unity and its interests and insubordination to party decisions.
The split is therefore complete. Jean-Louis Billon had anticipated this somewhat by wishing to present his candidacy within a broader framework than the party of which he was deputy spokesperson. Will he submit to the vote of the party members, which risks being unfavourable to him? Who will emerge victorious from this duel, which is no longer fought with the gloves off? Advantage Thiam, for the moment...
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