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Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire — Rassemblement Démocratique Africain | |
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| Abbreviation | PDCI-RDA |
| Leader | Tidjane Thiam |
| Founder | Félix Houphouët-Boigny |
| Founded | 9 April 1946 (79 years, 230 days) |
| Preceded by | African Agricultural Union |
| Headquarters | Abidjan,Ivory Coast |
| Ideology | Conservatism[1] Economic liberalism[2] Houphouëtism Historical: Planned liberalism (1960–1978)[3][4] State capitalism (1960–1969)[5] Pan-Africanism |
| Political position | Centre-right[6][7] |
| Regional affiliation | Democrat Union of Africa African Democratic Rally |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union[8] |
| Seats in theNational Assembly | 63 / 255 |
| Seats in theSenate | 6 / 99 |
| Website | |
| pdcirda | |
TheDemocratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (French:Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire — Rassemblement Démocratique Africain;abbreviatedPDCI-RDA) is acentre-rightpolitical party inIvory Coast.
Founded during thecolonial era in 1946, as an outgrowth of theAfrican Agricultural Union, and initially affiliated with theFrench Communist Party,[9] 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 founder and leader,Félix Houphouët-Boigny, was automatically elected to a five-year term aspresident of the republic and confirmed in office via a referendum. At the same time, a single list of PDCI candidates was returned to theNational Assembly.
All adult Ivorians were required to be members of the party,[10] which was considered the primary intermediary between the government and the people. Even after opposition parties were legalised in 1990, the PDCI continued to dominate Ivorian politics. At the 1990 elections, Houphouët-Boigny was reelected with an implausible 81 percent of the vote, and the party won all but 12 seats in the legislature.
Houphouët-Boigny led the party from its formation until his death in 1993. A year later, acting president of the republicHenri Konan Bédié became the party's second leader. He served out Houphouët-Boigny's seventh term, and was elected in his own right in 1995 with over 96 percent of the vote; the opposition parties had boycotted the election in protest of new eligibility requirements that they deemed unfair. 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";[11] the party decided to retain Bédié in the leadership, however.[12] In August, Bédié and four other PDCI members registered as candidates in theOctober 2000 presidential election;[13] shortly afterward,Emile Constant Bombet, who had served as Interior Minister under Bédié, defeated Bédié for the PDCI presidential nomination.[14] 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.[15]
Unlike many former single parties in Africa, the PDCI has made a good account of itself since losing power. In theparliamentary election held on 10 December 2000 and 14 January 2001, the party won 94 out of 225 seats.
On 18 May 2005, the PDCI and theRally of the Republicans (RDR), despite a history of hostility towards one another (the RDR had been formed as a liberal splinter from the PDCI in 1994), signed an agreement to form a coalition, theRally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace, along with two smaller parties, theUnion for Democracy and Peace in Ivory Coast (UDPCI) and theMovement of the Forces of the Future (MFA), ahead of the presidential election then planned for October 2005.[16][17] This election was delayed several times, finally held in 2010. By that time, the two parties had resumed competing against each other.
At the11 December 2011 parliamentary election, the PDCI remained the principal opposition party, with 76 seats.
At the2016 parliamentary election, theRally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (composed of the RDR, the PDCI and some minor parties) won a strong majority at the National Assembly.
At the2021 Ivorian parliamentary election, the PDCI only gained around 6% of the vote and 23 seats.The Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace won, in contrast, 49% of the vote and now have 137 seats in the parliament.
The PDCI Primary will take place on April 16, 2025, to designate the candidate for the presidential elections of October 2025.[18]
Thiam resigned as party president on May 12, 2025, considering himself the victim of "judicial harassment".[19]
| Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round | Second Round | ||||||
| 1960 | Félix Houphouët-Boigny | 1,641,352 | 100% | - | - | Elected Y | |
| 1965 | 1,867,605 | 100% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1970 | 2,003,046 | 100% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1975 | 2,404,905 | 100% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1980 | 2,795,150 | 100% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1985 | 3,516,524 | 100% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1990 | 2,445,365 | 81.68% | - | - | ElectedY | ||
| 1995 | Henri Konan Bédié | 1,837,154 | 96.0% | - | - | ElectedY | |
| 2000 | Boycotted | ||||||
| 2010 | 1,165,532 | 25.24% | - | - | Lost N | ||
| 2015 | SupportedAlassane Ouattara | 2,618,229 | 83.66% | - | - | ElectedY | |
| 2020 | Henri Konan Bédié | Boycotted | |||||
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–47 | Félix Houphouët-Boigny | 24 / 30 |  24 | 1st | ||
| 1952 | 66,838 | 71.9% | 28 / 32 | 4 |  1st | |
| 1957 | 720,828 | 89.3% | 58 / 60 | 30 | 1st | |
| 1959 | 1,522,324 | 100% | 100 / 100 | 40 | 1st | |
| 1960 | 1,586,518 | 100% | 70 / 70 |  30 | 1st | |
| 1965 | 1,863,005 | 100% | 85 / 85 | 15 | 1st | |
| 1970 | 1,997,560 | 100% | 100 / 100 | 15 | 1st | |
| 1975 | 2,390,566 | 100% | 120 / 120 | 20 | 1st | |
| 1980 | 100% | 147 / 147 | 27 | 1st | ||
| 1985 | 100% | 175 / 175 | 30 | 1st | ||
| 1990 | 1,324,549 | 71.7% | 163 / 175 | 12 | 1st | |
| 1995 | Henri Konan Bédié | 148 / 175 | 15 | 1st | ||
| 2000–01 | 94 / 225 | 54 | 2nd | |||
| 2011 | 564,958 | 28.85% | 77 / 255 | 17 | 2nd | |
| 2016 | 1,019,057 | 50.26% as part ofRHDP | 77 / 255 | | 2nd | |
| 2021 | 602,201 | 22.54% withEDC | 73 / 255 | 4 | 2nd |
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. Robert E. Handloff (November 1988). "The Party". In Handloff, Robert E.; Roberts, Thomas Duval (eds.).Cote d'Ivoire: a country study.Federal Research Division,Library of Congress.LCCN 90005878.| International | |
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