Laurent Gbagbo - Aftermath

Aftermath

Early in November 2004, after the peace agreement had effectively collapsed following Gbagbo's incapacity to hold democratic elections that would include all candidates and the rebels' subsequent refusal to disarm. During one of these alleged airstrikes in Bouaké on 6 November 2004, French soldiers were hit and nine of them were killed; the Ivorian government has said it was not their fault, but the French have claimed it was deliberate albeit L'Elysée knew the Ivorian state was innocent. They responded by destroying most Ivoirian military aircraft.

With the late October deadline approaching in 2006, it was regarded as very unlikely that the election would in fact be held by that point, and the opposition and the rebels rejected the possibility of another term extension for Gbagbo. The UN Security Council endorsed another one-year extension of Gbagbo's term on 1 November 2006; however, the resolution provided for the strengthening of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny's powers. Gbagbo said the next day that elements of the resolution deemed to be constitutional violations would not be applied.

A peace deal between the government and the rebels, or New Forces, was signed on 4 March 2007, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and subsequently Guillaume Soro, leader of the New Forces, became Prime Minister. Those events were seen by some observers as substantially strengthening Gbagbo's position.

Gbagbo visited the north for the first time since the outbreak of the war for a disarmament ceremony, the "peace flame", on 30 July 2007. This ceremony involved burning weapons to symbolize the end of the conflict. At the ceremony, Gbagbo declared the war over and said that the country should move quickly to elections, which were then planned for early 2008.

On 30 August 2008, Gbagbo was designated the FPI's candidate for the November 2008 presidential election at a party congress; he was the only candidate for the FPI nomination. The presidential election was again postponed to 2010.