Ivory Coast president, Alassane Ouattara, has confirmed his decision to seek re-election in the country’s upcoming October polls.
Ouattara formally accepted the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate, However, his opponents has expressed dissatisfaction saying the constitution forbids a third term.
His opponents say the two-term limit in the constitution bans him from running again, but Ouattara has cited the fact that the country’s new constitution was adopted in 2016, which inadvertently cancels out his first two mandates, as he started his presidency in 2011.
Still, the opposition party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), called his decision to run “deplorable.” FPI spokesman, Issiaka Sangare, added: “Ivory Coast could have given another signal that would have allowed democracy to continue.”
He [Outtara] had previously announced in March he will not run again, leaving the country open to the leadership of a younger generation, his recent decision seems to be motivated by the death of the party’s presidential candidate and his preferred successor, then-prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, which led the party to ask Ouattara to reconsider.
“I have decided to respond favourably to the call of my fellow citizens,” Ouattara said in a televised speech. “Given my previous promise, this decision represents a real sacrifice for me.”
Ouattara’s main challenger will be Henri Konan Bedie, who was president from 1993-1999 and is the confirmed candidate of one of the country’s largest parties, the PDCI.
This election will be one of the hotly contested polls in Africa and a measure of the country’s ability to accept change, having experienced a brief civil war in 2010 and 2011 that killed about 3,000 people following Ouattara’s first election win.
The first round of polling will be held on October 31st this year.
(C) Control TV 2020.
