Center-right "Houphouëtist" party and the nation's oldest surviving. Party began as the African Agricultural Union (1944-46), a union of African planters launched by the Ivory Coast's first president (1960-1993) and founding father Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Party had a base among the majority Baoulés people and upheld Baoulés traditions of economic self-sufficiency and liberalism. Party carried one-party-state status in the Ivory Coast until Houphouët-Boigny's death in 1993, and was brought to its knees after the December 24, 1999 military coup led by Robert Guéï, which instituted multiparty elections. Party fell to 46 seats in the National Assembly after elections held in 2000 and went into opposition. Party then chose to be absorbed within rival President Alassane Ouattara's Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) in May 18, 2005, but then opted out in 2018. Party is led by its interim president Philippe Cowppli-Bony and holds 63 seats in the Assembly [Parti démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire-Rassemblement démocratique africain (PDCI-RDA)].
