Ivorian Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who had been handpicked by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara to succeed him after elections later this year, has died at the age of 61.
Gon Coulibaly died on Wednesday after taking part in a Cabinet meeting, Ivorian Presidential Secretary-General Patrick Achi said in a statement on national television.
His death leaves the ruling party of the world’s biggest cocoa producer with four months to nominate a successor to Ouattara before a vote scheduled for October.
Photo: AFP
The west African nation is headed for its most tense election since Ouattara took over the reins in 2011, following five months of post-electoral violence that left at least 3,000 people dead or missing.
“This is a huge game changer for the elections,” Kobi Annan, an analyst at risk consultancy Songhai Advisory said from London. “Ouattara was grooming Gon Coulibaly to be the next president, taking him with him everywhere he went to learn the ropes and to show the country that he was his trusted successor.”
Gon Coulibaly died less than a week after returning from a two-month trip to Paris to receive medical treatment.
He had traveled regularly to France since having heart surgery in 2012 and his most recent visit included an operation to have a stent inserted.
Earlier this year, he self-isolated after possible exposure to COVID-19, although he reportedly tested negative for the disease.
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