Pascal Affi N'Guessan (born 1 January 1953) is an Ivorian politician who is the President of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).Profile at N'Guessan's website
. He was the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

from 27 October 2000 to 10 February 2003.

Biography

N'Guessan was born in Bouadikro in the sub-prefecture of Bongouanou."Les ambitions de Pascal Affi N'Guessan"
''Jeune Afrique'', 16 October 2001 . In 1986, he joined the FPI.Tidiane Dioh
"Le FPI en ordre de bataille"
''Jeune Afrique'', 31 July 2001 . He was Mayor of Bongouanou from 1990 to 1996 and Vice-President of the Union of Towns and Communes of Côte d'Ivoire (UVICOCI) from 1990 to 1995.

Political career

N'Guessan joined the Secretariat-General of the FPI in 1990, and in 1994 he became Deputy Secretary-General. In January 2000, after a military coup in December 1999, he became Minister of Industry and Tourism under military leader Robert Gueï, serving in that position until October 2000. N'Guessan was the campaign director for FPI candidate Laurent Gbagbo in the October 2000 presidential election, and after Gbagbo's victory he was appointed prime minister. Gbagbo was constitutionally barred from being party leader after he became president, and at the FPI's Third Extraordinary Congress, held from 20 to 22 July 2001, N'Guessan was elected as President of the FPI, receiving 94.55% of the vote. He was elected as a Vice-President of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

at its 22nd Congress, held from 27 to 29 October 2003 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Following the overthrow of the Gbagbo regime in April 2011 by forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara backed by French and UN forces, N'Guessan was arrested and held at a detention centre in Bouna, north-east Ivory Coast. On 8 August 2015, N'Guessan was designated as the FPI's presidential candidate for the October 2015 presidential election. He denounced the incarceration of Gbagbo by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

and political conditions under Ouattara: "Peace isn't only the silence of weapons. Can we say that Ivory Coast is in peace when President Gbagbo is in The Hague? With hundreds of political prisoners in jail, Ivory Coast is not in peace." Some hardliners in the FPI did not want to participate in elections as long as Gbagbo remained imprisoned, but others felt the party needed to remain engaged in the electoral process. In the December 2016 parliamentary election, N'Guessan was elected to the National Assembly as an FPI candidate in Bongouanou Department, receiving 59% of the vote. He was arrested during the night of 6 to 7 November, shortly after the 2020 Ivorian presidential election. He was allegedly arrested for forming a rival government to that of President

Alassane Ouattara Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician and economist who has been List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, he worked for the I ...

. In October 2021, N'Guessan announced his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election. In November 2024, Pascal Affi N'Guessan was re-elected as president of the Ivorian Popular Front with 99% of the vote.."Afrique Côte d'Ivoire: Pascal Affi N'Guessan réélu à la tête du FPI en vue de la présidentielle 2025"
Radio France International, 10 November 2024.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:N'guessan, Pascal Affi 1953 births Living people Industry ministers of Ivory Coast Tourism ministers of Ivory Coast Mayors of places in Ivory Coast Heads of government of Ivory Coast Ivorian Popular Front politicians People from Lacs District Heads of government who were later imprisoned