Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has declared intention to run for a fourth term in October’s election.
In a statement, the 83-year-old stated that his health was not a concern and that his candidature was motivated by a desire to “preserve national stability amid ongoing security and economic challenges”.
Ouattara claims that a new constitution enacted in 2016 resets his two-term limit, allowing him to run again.
He will be the poll’s frontrunner, as numerous possible challengers have already been prevented from competing.
Former President Laurent Gbagbo, ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, and former Minister Tidjane Thiam are among the candidates who have been disqualified.
On Tuesday, Thiam and other opposition leaders condemned Ouattara’s choice to run.
“Today’s announcement by Mr. Ouattara constitutes a violation of our Constitution and a new attack on democracy,” Thiam said in a statement.
“The Ivorian people will continue to make their voices heard and show the world what we think of this situation.”
On the same day Ouattara announced his candidature, police prohibited a peaceful protest scheduled for 7 August.
Opposition groups planned the event to urge the reinstatement of disqualified presidential candidates as well as an independent audit of the voter list.
Former banker Ouattara will be hopeful that his track record will lead him to victory in October, since the Ivory Coast’s economy has expanded by more than 6% in four consecutive years.
However, there is widespread discontent with the country’s political elite.
Current tension over the exclusion of opposition candidates brings up memories of previous electoral violence, such as the 2010-2011 conflict that killed over 3,000 people and the turmoil sparked by Ouattara’s contentious third-term campaign in 2020.
More than 8.7 million Ivorians are enrolled to vote. Civil society groups and religious leaders, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, have expressed concern over the country’s increasing political division.
