Laurent Gbagbo, who served as Ivorian president from 2000 to 2011 and is now a prominent opposition figure, was ultimately re-elected as the leader of his political party on Friday. This decision comes as he approaches his 81st birthday, having previously indicated a desire to step down by late 2025.

Laurent Gbagbo was unable to contest the last presidential election in October 2025, which his long-standing rival Alassane Ouattara won, due to a criminal conviction that prevents his registration on the electoral rolls.

His political organization, the Parti des peuples africains – Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), neither nominated nor supported any candidate in that election. Subsequently, the party boycotted the legislative elections in December, leaving it without parliamentary representation and with only a handful of mayoral positions.

Laurent Gbagbo’s re-election confirmed

On Friday, at the conclusion of its first ordinary congress, the PPA-CI officially reinstated Laurent Gbagbo as party president, as observed by attending journalists.

This decision had been overwhelmingly approved the previous day by acclamation from the several thousand delegates present.

Upon his arrival on Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, visibly pleased, received a warm ovation from his dedicated supporters gathered at the Palais des congrès in Treichville, Abidjan.

“I am delighted to be in this vibrant atmosphere; I thank you,” Mr. Gbagbo declared in a very brief statement. He is scheduled to deliver a more extensive address on Saturday in Songon, located in the south.

In October 2025, Mr. Gbagbo, who will turn 81 on May 31, had affirmed that he no longer wished to seek the leadership of his party and intended to “refrain from holding political office.”

Notably, a motion expressing support for the Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) – a confederation comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, three nations governed by sovereignist military juntas with strained relations with Abidjan – was met with enthusiastic applause on Friday.

The congress also saw the imposition of sanctions against several prominent party figures accused of insubordination.

Ahoua Don Mello, who had defied party directives by running in the 2025 presidential election, was expelled, while Stéphane Kipré, who participated in the legislative elections and was elected as an independent, received an 18-month suspension.

The “Ivorian left,” which Laurent Gbagbo embodied during his presidency between 2000 and 2011, is now more fragmented than ever. Many key figures from that era, including Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, his former wife; Charles Blé Goudé, his erstwhile close associate; and Pascal Affi N’Guessan, a former Prime Minister, have since severed ties with the PPA-CI.

The trajectory of Mr. Gbagbo’s future political career will undoubtedly hinge on his re-registration on the electoral lists, a condition that requires an amnesty from President Alassane Ouattara, who succeeded him in power in 2011 after a devastating post-electoral crisis that pitted the two men’s factions against each other.