Henri Konan Bédié

Aimé Henri Konan Bédié (5 May 1934 – 1 August 2023) was an Ivorian politician. He was President of Côte d'Ivoire from 1993 to 1999, and formerly President of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (PDCI–RDA).<ref name=PDCI>Biography at PDCI-RDA website Template:Webarchive Template:In lang.</ref> Prior to becoming president, he was a member and president of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast. He unsuccessfully sought another term as president in the 2020 presidential election.

Early life

Aimé Henri Konan Bédié was born in Dadiékro, Daoukro Department, on 5 May 1934. He attended school in France. Bédié married the former Henriette Koizan Bomo in 1957.<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref> The couple had four children.<ref name=nytimes/>

Career

After studying in France,<ref name=PDCI/><ref name=WHO>"Citation Award of the World Health Organization Health-for-All Gold Medal to His Excellency Mr Henri Konan Bédié President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire" Template:Webarchive, World Health Organization, 15 May 1998.</ref> he became Côte d'Ivoire's first ambassador to the United States and Canada following independence in 1960,<ref name=PDCI/> and from 1966 to 1977, he served in the government as Minister of Economy and Finance.<ref name=PDCI/><ref name=WHO/> While serving as Finance Minister, Bédié became the first Chairman of the IMF and World Bank's joint Development Committee,<ref name=PDCI/><ref>"Pages from World Bank History: The Development Committee, 1974–1984", World Bank website, 11 April 2003.</ref> holding that post from 1974 to 1976.<ref name=PDCI/> He was Special Advisor to the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation<ref name=PDCI/><ref name=WHO/> from 1978 to 1980.<ref name=WHO/>

In 1980, Bédié was elected to the National Assembly of Ivory Coast,<ref>List of deputies from past legislatures Template:Webarchive, National Assembly website Template:In lang.</ref> and he was then elected as President of the National Assembly in December 1980. He was re-elected as President of the National Assembly in 1985 and 1990.<ref name=WHO/>

Presidency (1993–1999)

As National Assembly President, Bédié stood first in the line of succession to long-time President Félix Houphouët-Boigny.<ref name=death>Template:Cite web</ref> He announced that he was assuming the presidency on state television a few hours after Houphouët-Boigny's death on 7 December 1993.<ref name=death/> A brief power struggle between Bédié and Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara ensued; Bédié was successful and Ouattara resigned as Prime Minister on 9 December.<ref>"Parliament Leader Prevails In Ivory Coast", Associated Press (Tulsa World), 10 December 1993.</ref> Bédié was subsequently elected as President of the PDCI in April 1994.<ref name=Mundt>Template:Cite book</ref> Per the Constitution, he served as acting president for the balance of Houphouët-Boigny's seventh term.Template:Fact

As President, Bédié encouraged national stability but was accused of political repression and stratospheric levels of corruption.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the October 1995 presidential election, the electoral code was amended to require presidential candidates to have been born of two Ivorian parents and have resided in the country for five years prior to the election. These provisions were thought to have been aimed at Ouattara. He had resided in the United States since 1990 while serving as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and his father was rumored to be Burkinabe. The two main opposition parties, Ouattara's Rally of the Republicans (RDR) and the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), decided to boycott the election, and Bédié won the election with 96% of the vote.<ref name=Mundt/>

Bédié was overthrown in a military coup on 24 December 1999, after he rejected the demands of soldiers who rebelled on 23 December; one of these demands was for the release of members of the RDR.<ref name=Arrives>Template:Cite news</ref> Retired general Robert Guéï became president. Bédié fled to a French military base before leaving Côte d'Ivoire by helicopter on 26 December and going to Togo, along with family members.<ref name=Arrives/><ref name=Flee>Template:Cite news</ref> Upon his arrival at the airport in Lomé, he was greeted by Togolese President Gnassingbé Eyadéma.<ref name=Flee/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Post-presidency

Bédié departed Togo on 3 January 2000 and went to Paris.<ref>"Deposed Ivorian president leaves Togo for France", AFP (nl.newsbank.com), 3 January 2000.</ref> The PDCI announced in early 2000 that it would hold a congress to choose new leadership, and Bédié denounced this as a "putsch";<ref>"Cote d'Ivoire: Ousted president accuses party of staging "putsch" against him", AFP (nl.newsbank.com), 29 February 2000.</ref> the party decided to retain Bédié in the leadership, however.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An international arrest warrant for Bédié and Niamien N'Goran, who had served under Bédié as Finance Minister, was issued in early June 2000 for alleged theft of public funds. Speaking on French television, Bédié said that he was not worried that he might be returned to Ivory Coast to face trial at the hands of a government that he deemed illegal, expressing his "faith in the law of France".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bédié registered as a candidate in the October 2000 presidential election,<ref>"COTE D'IVOIRE: Nineteen register as presidential candidates", IRIN, 18 August 2000.</ref> although Emile Constant Bombet, who had served as Interior Minister under Bédié, defeated him for the PDCI presidential nomination in August.<ref>"COTE D'IVOIRE: Ex-interior minister chosen as PDCI presidential candidate", IRIN, 21 August 2000.</ref> Bédié was barred from running by the Constitutional Court,<ref>"Dictator has one credible foe in vote", The Washington Times, 22 October 2000.</ref> along with Bombet,<ref name=PP>Template:Cite book</ref> and on 10 October Bédié called for a boycott of the election.<ref>"Cote d'Ivoire: Former President Bedie calls for presidential election boycott", AFP (nl.newsbank.com), 10 October 2000.</ref>

On 23 June 2001, Laurent Gbagbo, who had been elected President in the 2000 election, met with Bédié in Paris and urged him to return to Ivory Coast.<ref>"France: Cote d'Ivoire president asks predecessor to return home", AFP (nl.newsbank.com), 23 June 2001.</ref> He eventually returned on 15 October 2001.<ref>"Cote d'Ivoire: Ex-President returns home, wants to contribute to reconciliation", Radio Côte d'Ivoire (nl.newsbank.com), 16 October 2000.</ref><ref name=Postpone>"Cote d'Ivoire: Former ruling party postpones ordinary congress indefinitely", Africa No 1 radio, Libreville (nl.newsbank.com), 19 October 2001.</ref><ref name=Recon>"COTE D'IVOIRE: Former, current presidents address reconciliation forum", IRIN, 14 November 2001.</ref> A few days later, the 11th Ordinary Congress of the PDCI was postponed indefinitely at his request.<ref name=Postpone/>

Bédié spoke at a national reconciliation forum on 12 November 2001. He attributed the country's political crisis to the December 1999 coup and he urged all Ivorian politicians to denounce the coup. He also said that the nationalistic concept of Ivoirité, which was promoted during his presidency, was an attempt to bolster "cultural identity" and not a means of political exclusion. According to critics of Ivoriité, it was divisive, xenophobic, and intended to eliminate political competition from Ouattara—who was claimed to be the son of Burkinabé parents—but Bédié rejected this criticism.<ref name=Recon/> When the PDCI Congress was eventually held in April 2002, Bédié defeated Laurent Dona Fologo for the party leadership; he received 82% of the vote.<ref name=PP/>

Bédié later spent another year in France, returning to Ivory Coast on 11 September 2005. Upon his return, he said that President Gbagbo should not remain in office after the end of his term in October 2005 and that a transitional government should be installed.<ref>"COTE D'IVOIRE: Former president calls for Gbagbo to hand over to a transitional government", IRIN, 12 September 2005.</ref>

In an interview with Agence France Presse on 20 May 2007, Bédié said that he would be the PDCI candidate in the next presidential election, which was then expected to be held in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Bédié addressed a rally in Dabou on 22 September 2007, in which he declared the need for a "shock treatment" to return the country to normal,<ref name=Unveil>Loucoumane Coulibaly, "Opposition leader unveils recovery plan", Reuters (IOL), 24 September 2007.</ref> promised to restore the economy,<ref name=Unveil/> and strongly criticized Gbagbo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2020, Bédié announced that he would run in the October presidential election on behalf of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He came in third place, winning 1.68% of the vote.<ref>Independent Electoral Commission</ref>

Bédié died on 1 August 2023 at a private hospital in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at the age of 89.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• First Ivorian Civil War