Credit:  africa-me.com /    Former rebel leader Guillaume Soro says he will be a candidate in the  Presidential Election in  West Africa nation Côte d’Ivoire set for November 2020 despite his political exile in Europe. 

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW YORK –  Guillaume Soro, former head of the rebellion in West African nation Ivory Coast and potential presidential candidate in 2020,  continues to organize the resistance to President Alassane Ouattara  from Europe.  This week, Soro, who was also a former president of Ivory Coast National Assembly,  launched a legal counter attack in Paris, declaring he would not drop out of presidential elections that are set for November 2020.  Soro is in a sort of political exile in Paris after the Republic of Ivory Coast issued an arrest warrant last month  for  Soro for  involvement in an alleged coup plot.  Public prosecutor Richard Adou announced on  state television that an arrest warrant had been issued for breaches of state security, receiving stolen public resources and money laundering.  The Prosecutor said the alleged coup plot involved amassing weapons.   Soro denounced the arrest warrant and charges as an attempt by the government of Ouattara to keep him from returning to Ivory Coast to stand in the presidential election.  Soro announced his lawyer has filed a case in Paris against Ivory Coast public prosecutor Adou, as well as three people involved in a recording that led to him being accused of undermining state security.  Soro claims he is not guilty of anything, and characterized the charges against him as being politically motivated. In addition, Soro said his lawyers had placed a request with the regional West African Court of Justice, and the United Nations for his rights to be respected. 

UN Secretary General  António Guterres’s spokesperson said Wednesday he was unaware of any pending request from Soro’s lawyer to the UN regarding the political situation in Ivory Coast. 

Soro rose to international prominence as the leader of the Forces Nouvelles rebellion against then President Gbagbo during Côte d’Ivoire’s civil war.  After the 2007 peace deal, Soro served as prime minister under the successive governments of Gbagbo and Ouattara between 2007 and 2012.  Soro served for several years as speaker of the National Assembly but apparently had a falling out with President Ouattara.