SUMMARY
Laurent Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician and the former president of Ivory Coast. He was born on the 31st of May 1945 in Gagnoa, one of the largest cities in western Ivory Coast. With a bachelor in philosophy and a master’s degree in history, Gbagbo also has a doctorate completed at the University of Paris Diderot in France. As one of the strongest opponents to the rule of Houphouet-Boigny in the beginning of the 1970’s, Gbagbo was arrested and imprisoned for a total of three years from 1971 to 1973. After participating in a teachers strike against the regime in 1982 he formed the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). However, due to severe pressure and governmental harassment, Gbagbo was forced to flee the country only to return in 1988.
In the first presidential elections since independence, organised in 1990, Gbagbo was the only opponent of Houphouet-Boigny and although he lost the rigged elections, he managed to gain a seat in the National Assembly. The crave for political change and Gbagbo’s outspokenness once again led to his imprisonment, this time by orders of Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. Sentenced to two years in prison, he was released less than a year later. In 1999, Gbagbo was chosen to represent FPI (Front Populaire Ivoirien) in the presidential elections of 2000, elections which he won. For over ten years, Laurent Gbagbo remained in power until he lost the elections against Alassane Ouattara in 2010.
The supporters of Laurent Gbagbo are mainly members of the southern Christian ethnicities. Since the presidency of Konan Bedié (1993-1999) and the ivorisation policy, the country has been divided between northern and southern Ivory Coast. The south is mainly inhabited by the alleged native ethnicities of Christian belief and northern Ivory Coast by ethnicities with alleged foreign origins of Muslim belief. Gbagbo, being a Christian and a member of the Bété ethnic group, is hence strongly supported by the southern population.
The supporters of Laurent Gbagbo have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence
