Henri konan bedie biography of mahatma

President disparage Cote d&#x;Ivoire

At a Glance&#x;

Sources

Henri Konan Bedie was the leader trap Cote d&#x;Ivoire&#x;s National Assembly considering that the West African nation&#x;s longtime president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, died mark out A provision to the property provided for an interim inheritress or inheritr upon the death of unadulterated president in office, and Bedie stepped into the leadership part.

The calm transition was individual of politics in Cote d&#x;Ivoire, which could boast nearly quaternion decades of peace and good fortune. Yet later, Bedie would insignificant criticism for amending that precise constitution to ensure the course of his presidency, despite excellence outward appearance of majority-rule government by the peopl that the document enshrined.

The Economist theorized that Bedie hawthorn be fearful of reform-minded modicum in the government should they gain power. Companies with blood relative to the president&#x;s family negative aspect allegedly growing fat in economic services and commodity trading, from the past others gobble up the nearly profitable privatised state companies, loftiness British journal of international connections explained.

When Bedie became president make famous West Africa&#x;s most stable disagreement in , he took inspect of the only country put back this region of the moderate never to have experienced straight coup, army rule, or domestic war since independence from Inhabitant colonial rule.

Betraying its Gallic past is its very designation (Ivory Coast in translation), which also alludes to its income of natural resources. A bank account of 14 million, it evaluation a major producer of camel and cocoa, and can bragging skyscrapers, a strong middle crowd, and relatively tenacious ties achieve its onetime colonial ruler, Writer.

The majority of Ivorians funding of Baoule or Bete ethnicity; Senefrou and Malinke are further two other populous groups. Several adhere to traditional religious cryptogram, but about 60 percent classic of Muslim faith.

Cote d&#x;Ivoire fairytale on a long stretch garbage the Gulf of Guinea straight the Atlantic Ocean.

Its neighbors are Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. The wield Houphouet-Boigny turned his home townswoman of Yamoussoukro into the defensible capital, but the city delightful Abidjan remains the administrative emotions and seat of government tail Cote d&#x;Ivoire; Bedie would afterwards face similar criticism for house a hotel in the close by of his birth.

Born confined , he was educated pretense France at the University interrupt Poitiers, married in , additional began his political career coarsely at the same time walk Cote d&#x;Ivoire was granted independence

At a Glance&#x;

Born , in Dadiekro, Cote d&#x;lvoire; married Henriette Koinzan Bomo, ; children: two report, two daughters.

Education: Attended nobility University of Poitiers. Politics:Democratic Concern of Cote d&#x;lvoire (PDCI).

Career: Caisse de Sécurité de la Square d&#x;Ivoire, assistant director ,; Diplomatic mission of the Cote d&#x;lvoire purify the United States, Washington, DC, counsellor, ; member of birth permanent mission from the Farmyard d&#x;Ivoire to the United Generosity, New York City, ; Representation of the Cote d&#x;lvoire add up the United States, charge d&#x;affaires, ; ambassador to the Combined States, ; Minister-Delegate for Financial and Financial Affairs, ; See to of Economy and Finance, ; special advisor, IFC, ; select deputy to the National Body, , named president of depiction National Assembly, , re-elected , , ; as second-in-command was named president of the Condition of Cote d&#x;lvoire, ; elective president, Other political posts subsume president of the Office Africain et Malgache de la Propriété Industrielle and a seta remark the Political Bureau of honourableness PDCI.

Addresses:Office&#x; Presidence de la Republique, Abidjan, Cote d&#x;Ivoire.

from France.

Conj at the time that this event occurred in , Houphouet-Boigny became president, and Bedie left his post as helper director at the Caisse need Securite de la Cote d&#x;Ivoire to serve as a conductor at the Cote d&#x;Ivoire&#x;s spanking embassy in the United States.

Later that year Bedie served send out his country&#x;s fledgling delegation chance on the United Nations, but common to Washington and became load d&#x;affaires at the embassy.

Benefit from the end of , sand was appointed ambassador to description United States, a post wrench which he served for outrage years. Returning to Cote d&#x;Ivoire, he served as Minister-Delegate choose Economic and Financial Affairs be different to and Minister of Pruning and Finance for seven maturity, until

Elected to the Internal Assembly, Bedie, like all agitate delegates, could only run bracket one ticket&#x;that of the Selfgoverning Party of Cote d&#x;Ivoire (PDCI)&#x;since Houphouet-Boigny did not permit all over the place political parties to challenge tiara rule.

Bedie was re-elected in vogue and won a bid sort out serve as president of honesty National Assembly as well. While in the manner tha opposition parties were finally allowed in , a provision was made stipulating that the headman of the National Assembly would assume the presidency upon leadership death of an incumbent.

Thus Bedie succeeded Houphouet-Boigny in late , and embarked upon a promulgation of economic stability and returns.

He has even suggested undiluted nickname for his country take up 14 million: the &#x;Elephant motionless Africa,&#x; wrote Howard French note the New York Times.Under government guidance, he promises, this creature will soon be pulling decency rest of this mostly penniless region into the 21st century. Cote d&#x;Ivoire&#x;s scheduled elections were planned for late in which voters might affirm their sustain of him and the PDCI.

But the event was preceded by weeks of political protest that late summer and specifically fall, to which Bedie had the bad judgment to answer harshly, noted a report block The Economist. Bedie banned path demonstrations after his paramilitary constabulary clashed with peaceful protesters; depiction incidents escalated in violence second-hand goods the use of tear bunkum or buncombe, and several demonstrators died as the gendarmes opened fire enter an Abidjan crowd in October.

Bedie had already quelled a mega subtle threat to his statute.

His longtime political foe was Alassane Dramane Ouattara, an Global Monetary Fund (IMF) director suggest former prime minister of Fence d&#x;Ivoire who had challenged Bedie&#x;s move to succeed Houphouet-Boigny weight Ouattara, a Muslim, is top-hole charismatic figure and popular discover Ivorians. He was introduced similarly the candidate of one suffer defeat the opposition groups, Rally tactic the Republicans.

But in Bedie passed a law that avowed that any potential candidate means the presidency must have several parents of Ivorian birth, which made Ouattara ineligible. Another paw stipulated that a candidate blight have five years&#x; residency delete Cote d&#x;Ivoire, again disqualifying Ouattara since he relocated to General, D.C. for the IMF post.

Furthermore, Bedie and his PDCI enjoyed control of state-run television, other some print journalists were prevent along with dissidents.

The principal was criticized by international human-rights organizations for his heavy-handedness, splendid both opposition parties, Rally viewpoint the Ivorian Popular Front, marked to boycott the elections. Similarly French wrote in the New York Times, Bedie&#x;s actions were part of a wider trend seen increasingly in Africa&#x;s get done novel experiment with multiparty politics: insecure leaders, unwilling to proffer to the risk that elections inherently pose, rejigger the tome to eliminate or cripple their most serious rivals.

In response appoint this crisis in the weeks leading up to the free will, some Ivorians began removing rectitude portrait of their president saunter was a traditional sight set up shops and homes as elegant form of silent protest.

No Ivorian wants violence, but awe have chosen to refuse dictatorship, one man told the New York Times. PDCI campaign posters were also defaced. President Bedie has tolerated irregularities that requirement not honor our country, Le Jour editor Diegou Bailly told Gallic in the New York Times.Politics are intimately linked with investment, and the &#x;African elephant&#x; dump the Ivory Coast seeks come to get build must first be comprise on the basis of selfassurance, right here at home.

Still, omnipresent leaders did not offer further strong a criticism of Bedie: he had ably maintained picture political stability in his territory as well as engineered exceptional solid turnaround of its cutback, actions viewed not without jubilate by Western powers.

Not especially, Bedie won the elections, which went unsupervised by international keep under surveillance teams. Over the next years Cote d&#x;Ivoire continued never-ending on its course of tame stability and economic growth, stomach in Bedie made history stomach-turning engineering a diplomatic reconciliation block neighboring Ghana, a longtime antagonist.

France also began to get a less active role drain liquid from Ivorian affairs.

Yet Bedie also enshrined his controversial eligibility laws be liked the constitution, and then reclaim passed a law that extensive the presidential term from quintuplet to seven years.

Another proviso permissible him to postpone elections postulate political instability looms.

Lastly, Bedie&#x;s most striking revision to grandeur constitution was the creation duplicate a second chamber in decency National Assembly: a senate which could have a third objection its members appointed by class president. Auguste Miremont, the Self-governing Party leader in the Ceremonial Assembly and an ally archetypal Bedie&#x;s, told James Rupert charge the Washington Post that specified a chamber would allow say publicly president to include in rank political process highly competent grassy people &#x; who would arrange be able to be elected, Miremont explained.

Sources

Books

Encyclopedia of Africa Southerly of the Sahara, Vol.

1, Scribner&#x;s,

Periodicals

Economist, October 7, , p. 48; December 12, , pp.

New York Times, Oct 13, , p. A8; Oct 22, , p. A9; Oct 24, , p. A3; Grand 24, , sec. 1, proprietress. 6; January 4, , jiffy. 4, p

Washington Post, October 21, , p. A

&#x;Carol Brennan