Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire – African Democratic Rally
Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire — Rassemblement Démocratique Africain |
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Abbreviation | PDCI-RDA |
Leader | Henri Konan Bédié |
Founded | 1946 |
Headquarters | Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire |
Ideology |
Conservatism Pan-Africanism |
Political position | Centre-right |
International affiliation |
Democrat Union of Africa African Democratic Rally |
Seats in the National Assembly |
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Website | |
pdcirda |
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The Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire — African Democratic Rally (French: Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire — Rassemblement Démocratique Africain; abbreviated PDCI-RDA) is a political party in Côte d'Ivoire.
Founded during the colonial era in 1946, as an outgrowth of the African Agricultural Union, it became the only legal party in the country upon independence in 1960. For the next 30 years, the PDCI and the government were effectively one. Every five years, its leader was automatically elected to a five-year term as president of the republic and confirmed in office via a referendum. At the same time, a single list of PDCI candidates was returned to the National Assembly.
All adult Ivorians were required to be members of the party, which was considered the primary intermediary between the government and the people. In 1990 the first multi-party elections took place, but the party remained in power with a landslide majority in the legislature.
Founder Félix Houphouët-Boigny led the party from its formation until his death in 1993, upon which he was replaced by Henri Konan Bédié. The party lost power when Bédié was ousted in a December 1999 coup.
The PDCI announced in early 2000 that it would hold a congress to choose new leadership, and Bédié denounced this as a "putsch"; the party decided to retain Bédié in the leadership, however. In August, Bédié and four other PDCI members registered as candidates in the October 2000 presidential election; shortly afterward, Emile Constant Bombet, who had served as Interior Minister under Bédié, defeated Bédié for the PDCI presidential nomination. Bombet and Bédié were both barred from running by the Constitutional Court in early October, and on October 10 Bédié called for a boycott of the election.