BY JOYCE JOHNSON

Côte d’Ivoire is one of the most politically-divided nations in West Africa. Current President Alassane Ouattara, former President Henri Konan Bédié, and former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, once political allies against their common political enemy, former President Laurent, are now political enemies. Yet they, and other members of the nation’s political elite, have put their political differences on the back burner to unanimously mourn the death of the late prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the ruling party’s candidate for the upcoming 31 October presidential election.

From France where he was forced into exile last year on allegations of corruption and attempt to destabilize the state, former speaker of the parliament, Guillaume Soro (who previously served as prime minister) stated: “There’s no room in this circumstance for the political game.” Soro, formerly a member of the leadership of Ouattara’s party, RHDP, left the party last year out of frustration and eventually announced his candidacy months before the party nominated the late prime minister.

Former President Bédié, who also announced his candidacy for the upcoming election, was also moved by the demise of the man he was supposed to run against on October 31, calling him “a great servant of the state” and “an example of loyalty and faithfulness in the respect of his political convictions.” The former president even mentioned his one-time political ally, now his staunch adversary, President Ouattara by stating that the current president “has lost a faithful and loyal collaborator.” Bédié abruptly canceled a campaign event scheduled for the day following the prime minister’s death.

For his part, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, formerly secretary-general of the Ivorian Popular Front—created by former president—which he left to create his own version of the same party, stated: “It’s a very big loss for Côte d’Ivoire and his party, RHDP. The Ivorian Popular Front and chairman Affi N’Guessan express their deep sympathy to the chairman of the RHDP, Mr. Alassane Ouattara, and extend their deepest condolences to the bereaved family ”

In a press release issued by the other version of the Ivorian Popular Front chaired by former President Laurent Gbagbo, the party’s secretary-general, Assoa Adou, writes: “On behalf of its chairman, Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian Popular Front respectfully bows in memory of the great servant of the state that was the illustrious defunct.” Adou notes that the late prime minister served as Agriculture Minister in former President Gbagbo’s cabinet, adding that “the demise of the prime minister is felt by President Gbagbo as that of a former companion, a former collaborator, and a brother.”