Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term in an election from which two of his main challengers were barred, according to provisional results. Ouattara, 83, won 89.8% of the vote, as reported by the electoral commission on Monday. Businessman Jean-Louis Billon came in a distant second with only 3.09%.
This landslide victory was largely expected since former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who were banned from the presidential race, had urged their supporters to boycott the election. Voter turnout was reported at just 50.1%. Simone Gbagbo, the ex-wife of Laurent Gbagbo, was allowed to contest the election and received 2.42% of the vote. The results announced on Monday are provisional, and the final outcome will be declared by the Constitutional Council after it addresses any election petitions.
On Sunday, the opposition group made up of Gbagbo and Thiam’s parties denounced the election as a “civilian coup d’etat,” saying they would not recognise Ouattara as a validly elected leader. Ouattara first assumed the presidency in 2011, following Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest after his refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 election.
Ouattara was originally restricted to serving two terms, but a 2016 constitutional overhaul allowed him to seek re-election in 2020, in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
Source: bbc.com
