Abbreviation FPI Founded 1982 (1982) International affiliation None* | Leader Pascal Affi N'Guessan Political position Centre-left | |
Ideology Social democracy,
Democratic socialism,
Left-wing nationalism | ||
The Ivorian Popular Front (French: Front populaire ivoirien; abbreviated FPI) is a centre-left, democratic socialist and social democratic, political party in Ivory Coast.
FPI was founded in exile in 1982 by history professor Laurent Gbagbo during the one-party rule of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Politically inspired by the French Socialist Party, the FPI was until 2011 a full member of the Socialist International (SI). The expulsion of the FPI from the SI occurred as a result of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis.
Gbagbo was sworn in as president after the heavily disputed presidential election of October 22, 2000. In the parliamentary election held on 10 December 2000 and 14 January 2001, the party won 96 out of 225 seats.
The party president is Pascal Affi N'Guessan, a former prime minister. Following Gbagbo's election as president, he was required to step down as party leader, and N'Guessan was elected to head the party at its 3rd Extraordinary Congress in July 2001.
The Ivorian Popular Front boycotted the 2011 parliamentary election, accusing the electoral commission of bias in favour of Alassane Ouattara and accusing the army of intimidating FPI supporters during the campaign. The party also complained of having been limited in informing the electorate, with the pro-FPI newspaper Notre Voie having been banned by the government and many of its journalists arrested or jailed.