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 Africaportal  Politicsportal |
Presidential elections were held in Ivory Coast on 31 October 2020. Incumbent president Alassane Ouattara was re-elected with 95% of the vote amidst an opposition boycott.
In January 2017 incumbent President Alassane Ouattara of the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) announced that he would not run again after being president for two terms (2010–2015 and 2015–2020). [1] On 5 March 2020, he publicly reiterated his intent not to be candidate during an address to Congress. [2] Ouattara imposed Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly as the RHDP candidate of the ruling party over other potential candidates, including Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan, who later resigned. [3] [4] However, in May Coulibaly was hospitalised for heart complications and had a stent fitted. He returned to Ivory Coast on 2 July, but died six days later after falling ill during a meeting of the Council of Ministers. The event left the RHDP without a candidate, and Ouattara considered putting forward Defense Minister Hamed Bakayoko, before renouncing due to alleged links to drug trafficking. [5] [6]
In late July 2020, Ouattara rescinded his initial decision and announced his candidacy for a third term. Ouattara argued that because a new constitution was promulgated after a constitutional referendum in 2016, the normal two-term limit for the presidency was effectively reset, allowing him to run for a third term. Opposition parties argued that the move was unconstitutional, and some protests ensued, but Ouattara was allowed to run again regardless by the Independent Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court. [7] [8]
Despite seeing good economic growth, critics have argued that vast inequality remains, and that Ouattara was developing authoritarian tendencies. [9] Despite opposition parties calling for a boycott, two of his opponents allowed their names to remain on the ballot (Kouadio Konan Bertin did not support the boycott). [10]
The President of Ivory Coast will be elected for a five-year term using the two-round system. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a second round will be held.
Former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who was living in France, announced that he would contest the elections. However, on 29 April 2020 he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison and given a $7.6 million (£6.1 million) fine. [11] Soro's lawyers claimed this was an attempt to prevent him taking part in the election. [11] [12]
On 14 September, the Constitutional Council approved four candidates; Ouattara, former president Henri Konan Bédié from the PDCI, former prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan and Kouadio Konan Bertin, a dissident from the PDCI. Former president Laurent Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, both critics of incumbent Ouattara, were barred as they were facing criminal charges. The ruling led to violent protests. [13]
The opposition announced that it would not recognise the validity of the election, saying it was "marred by many irregularities and a low turnout," and called for "the start of a civilian transition in order to create the conditions for a fair, transparent and inclusive election". However, several members of the opposition have had disagreements, with the PDCI, Guillaume Soro, Simone Gbagbo, and Pascal Affi N'Guessan saying that a transitional government should immediately be named, while the FPI party argued that it was too early to form one in the current environment, saying a civil disobedience movement needed to force Ouattara to negotiate in a legal manner. Several localities, including several in Yamoussoukro, had seen traffic prevented from reaching some neighborhoods, and that the entry points to the city were blocked by barricades. Election monitors from ECOWAS had to travel by helicopter to reach Abidjan due to difficulties entering the city. Opposition supporters attacked several motorcades of pro-government figures, in some cases shooting at them, or setting vehicles on fire. Several people were also killed in clashes in Toumodi, [14] as well as Tiébissou. [15] Indigo, an Ivorian NGO backed by the National Democratic Institute, estimated that 23% of polling stations were shuttered, and 6% had to close early before the counting process and announcement of results were completed. [14]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alassane Ouattara | Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace | 3,031,483 | 95.31 | |
| Kouadio Konan Bertin | Independent | 64,011 | 2.01 | |
| Henri Konan Bédié | Democratic Party of Ivory Coast | 53,330 | 1.68 | |
| Pascal Affi N'Guessan | Ivorian Popular Front | 31,986 | 1.01 | |
| Total | 3,180,810 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 3,180,810 | 97.28 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 89,003 | 2.72 | ||
| Total votes | 3,269,813 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 6,066,441 | 53.90 | ||
| Source: Independent Electoral Commission | ||||
The politics of Ivory Coast takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ivory Coast is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
Aimé Henri Konan Bédié was an Ivorian politician. He was President of Côte d'Ivoire from 1993 to 1999, and formerly President of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA). Prior to becoming president, he was a member and president of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast. He unsuccessfully sought another term as president in the 2020 presidential election.
Pascal Affi N'Guessan is an Ivorian politician who is the President of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). He was the Prime Minister of the Ivory Coast from 27 October 2000 to 10 February 2003.
The Rally of the Republicans is a liberal party in Ivory Coast. The party is the country's governing party; the party's leader, Alassane Ouattara, is the current President of Ivory Coast.
Alassane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician and economist who has been President of Ivory Coast since 2010. An economist by profession, he worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of West African States, and was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to December 1993, appointed to that post by then-President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Ouattara became the President of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR), an Ivorian political party, in 1999.
The Ivorian Popular Front is a centre-left, democratic socialist and social democratic political party in Ivory Coast.
Daniel Kablan Duncan is an Ivorian politician. He previously served as Prime Minister of Ivory Coast from 11 December 1993 to 24 December 1999 and again from November 2012 to January 2017. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from June 2011 to November 2012. He was also the first Vice President of Ivory Coast, after the recreation of this office, from January 2017 until 13 July 2020.
Guillaume Kigbafori Soro is an Ivorian politician who was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from April 2007 to March 2012. Prior to his service as Prime Minister, Soro led the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire, and later the New Forces as its Secretary-General. In March 2012, Soro became President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire. He stepped down from that position in February 2019, announcing in June 2019 that he is running to succeed President Alassane Ouattara.
Presidential elections were held in Ivory Coast in 2010. The first round was held on 31 October, and a second round, in which President Laurent Gbagbo faced opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, was held on 28 November 2010. Originally scheduled to be held in 2005, the vote was delayed several times due to the Ivorian Civil War and difficulties involved in the organization and preparation of the elections. A peace agreement between the government and the former rebel New Forces was signed on 4 March 2007, and in late April 2009, it was announced that the elections would be held by 6 December 2009, and that the date would be announced shortly. On 15 May 2009, the date was announced to be 29 November 2009. On 11 November, the elections were postponed again due to delays in the electoral roll. It was announced on 3 December 2009 to be held in late February or early March 2010.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ivory Coast on 11 December 2011, after the presidential elections in late 2010. They followed a peace agreement between the government and the New Forces that was signed in March 2007. The Rally of the Republicans, the party of President Alassane Ouattara, won just under half the seats in the National Assembly.
Mamadou Koulibaly is an Ivorian politician, Chairman of LIDER, a classical liberal political party he founded in July 2011. Previously, he was President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire from 2001 to 2011, Minister of the Budget in 2000 and Minister of Economy and Finance from 2000 to 2001. For years he was leading member of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), briefly leading the party in an interim capacity in 2011 before quitting it.
Jeannot Ahoussou-Kouadio is an Ivorian politician who was Prime Minister of Ivory Coast from March 2012 to November 2012. In April 2018, he was appointed president of the Senate of Ivory Coast and served until October 2023. Previously he was Minister of Industry from 2002 to 2005 and Minister of Justice from 2010 to 2012.
Presidential elections were held in Ivory Coast on 25 October 2015. Alassane Ouattara won a second term in a landslide victory over his closest rival Pascal Affi N'Guessan.
Events in the year 2020 in Ivory Coast.
Hamed Bakayoko was an Ivorian politician who served as Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 8 July 2020 until his death on 10 March 2021. He had previously served as the country's Minister of New Technologies, Information and Communication, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Defense.
Kouadio Konan Bertin, known as KKB, is an Ivorian politician. He represented Port-Bouët in the National Assembly from 2011 to 2016.
This period in the history of Ivory Coast was affected by the end of the 33-year reign of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, as well as demographic change which had seen the Muslim population rise from 6% in 1922 to 38.6% in 1998, including a majority in the north of the country.
Events in the year 2021 in Ivory Coast.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ivory Coast on 6 March 2021. The previous elections, held in 2016, saw the presidential coalition win more than the half the seats in the National Assembly.
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