P 151651Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4378

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000462 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON IV
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTY YOUTH LEADERS OFFER LITTLE BUT 
RHETORIC 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 396 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY: In a country where over half of the 
population is under 25 and job opportunities for young people 
are scarce, political parties have had little trouble in the 
recent past mobilizing youth for violent ends during times of 
political crisis.  In light of the looming November 30th 
election deadline, the PolEcon Chief and PolOff met with 
youth leaders from the major political parties to gauge their 
opinions on how youth might play a role in the electoral 
process given the current political climate.  Although all of 
the leaders agreed that youth unemployment continues to be a 
serious problem, pre-election political party activities 
offer little in the way of solutions.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The PolEcon Chief and PolOff met with youth leaders 
from the three main political parties - the Front Populaire 
Ivoirien (FPI), Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR), and the 
Parti Democratique de la Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) -- as well as 
two of the smaller parties active in politics, the Parti 
Ivoirien des Travailleurs (PIT) and the Mouvement des Forces 
de l'Avenir (MFA).  All were quick to state that unemployment 
is a major problem for young people in Cote d'Ivoire. 
Despite the consensus however, political parties are doing 
little to address the problem.  FPI youth president Navigue 
Konate told Emboffs that the FPI has youth programs, but 
cannot put them into place because the government is focusing 
on elections and the "unicite des caisses" is not really 
functional. (Note: "unicite des caisses" is the process 
through which the government is trying to reassert its 
authority to collect taxes in areas held by the New Forces.) 
The only jobs available, says Navigue and PDCI youth 
president Konan Bertin Kouadio, are in government -- a 
situation which was exacerbated by the drop off in private 
sector employment opportunities since the country's political 
crisis began in 2002. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Political parties' lack of programs targeting youth 
have not dissuaded them from campaigning around the country, 
trying to drum up support among their parties' younger 
constituents.  When Emboffs asked why youth projects are not 
being implemented, the oft-repeated refrain was that nothing 
substantive can happen until elections take place.  The two 
smaller parties (PIT, MFA) also cited a lack of funding. 
Both PIT and MFA, however, had clear party platforms that 
they outlined for Emboffs; the PDCI and RDR youth leaders 
would not provide details. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  What all of the youth leaders did agree on was that 
the possibility of seeing the types of violent youth mobs 
that militant youth leader Ble Goude mobilized in 2004 has 
considerably decreased (see Reftel).  Although there are 
still some "extremists" who are loyal to Ble Goude, Kouadio 
(PDCI) says Ble Goude's influence with young people has 
declined and he can no longer organize the sheer numbers of 
people he once could.  MFA youth leader Simeon Kpanhi and PIT 
youth president Guillaume Tano both attribute this decline in 
Ble Goude's influence to an overall change in young people's 
perceptions.  They believe that having seen Ble Goude and 
other FPI leaders enrich themselves while their young 
followers continue to remain poor has resulted in a steady 
loss of support since the height of the crisis. 
 
 
NESBITT