Ivory Coast candidate Billon concedes as partial results favour Ouattara

Alassane Ouattara, the country’s current president, has conceded defeat to former Ivory Coast commerce minister Jean-Louis Billon, who has early partial results showing that the latter holds a strong lead nationwide.

Billon said in a statement congratulating the president on Sunday that “the initial results place the incumbent president, Mr. Alassane Ouattara, in the lead.”

Billon, an 83-year-old former international monetary fund executive, is one of four opposition candidates vying for a fourth term in office.

Billon was unable to win the support of Tidjane Thiam, the former Credit Suisse chief, who was barred from the election.

The Independent Electoral Commission of the nation began announcing preliminary results from Saturday’s national television broadcasts earlier in the day.

According to Ahmed Idris, who was presenting from Abidjan, the economic capital, “the results of 20 departments or divisions are being read out,” and 10 or 11 departments still exist. Six nations’ diaspora votes were included in this.

The most crucial stage of the election is when the results from various polling stations and centers are being compiled and announced, Idris said.

“From the initial results, it’s obvious that the incumbent is currently in the lead by a sizable margin in many of the areas.”

In a contest where the opposition was divided, which was further hampered by the ban of two popular candidates, nearly nine million people in Ivorians were able to cast ballots.

Idris claimed that “Ivorians are closely watching what takes place here.” The outcome of this election will determine how peaceful the streets will be.

Former President Laurent Gbagbo and President Thiam were Ouattara’s main rivals, Laurent Gbagbo for a criminal conviction, and Thiam for obtaining French citizenship.

Pre-election protests and calls for a boycott of the elections followed this.

Although the election commission president, Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, previously estimated voter turnout to be about 50%, the official figure is still unknown.

The AFP news agency reported that nearly no polling places were present in Abidjan and historically opposition-friendly areas of the south and west. In addition, it claimed that voters in the north, where Ouattara commanded the majority of his support, turned out in large numbers.

Ouattara was the clear favorite even with other major contenders withdrawn.

The vote on Saturday reminded me of the previous election in 2020, when he won with a turnout of slightly higher than 50% in an election that the main opposition boycotted.