According to preliminary results, Alassane Ouattara has won re-election to the Ivory Coast’s presidential election.
With 89.77 percent of the votes cast, the nation’s Independent Electoral Commission announced on Monday that the 83-year-old incumbent had won a fourth term.
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In a race that excluded Ouattara’s main rivals, nearly nine million Ivorians were eligible to cast ballots on Saturday. Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam and ex-President Laurent Gbagbo were denied entry to France because of a criminal conviction, and Tidjane Thiam was denied entry to France.
The remaining four candidates, who lacked significant financial resources and support from a major political party, were not seen as viable candidates.
3.09 percent of the vote went to one of them, former Commerce Minister Jean-Louis Billon, who had congratulated Ouattara on Sunday. According to the results, which were presented on state television by the electoral commission’s president, Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, former first lady Simone Gbagbo, 2.42 percent.
Turnout was estimated to be around 50%, which is close to the levels of the presidential elections in 2010 and 2015, but far below the 80 percent who cast ballots in the first round in 2010.
Ahmed Idris, a journalist from the Ivorian capital Abidjan, claimed that he had won with a “landslide victory” due to the low voter turnout and the ban on Ouattara’s main rivals.
The electoral commission’s claim that more than 50% of the voting population participated in this election could give Ouattara the legitimacy he needs to run a government raises questions for “many people,” he said.
“Deeply divided nation”
The leader is accused of choosing his electoral opponents according to the accusation of Ouattara’s detractors.
In response to his decision to run for a fourth term, many voters abstained. Presidents may only serve for two terms under the constitution, but Ouattara claims that a 2016 constitutional change “reset” his cap.
In response to the government’s decision to forbid demonstrations and arrest over 200 members of the Common Front political movement, sporadic , protests , had erupted in the weeks leading up to the election.
Analysts worry that there will be unavoidable violence on election day, despite the fact that more than 44 000 police and military personnel are stationed all over the country to keep things calm while voting.
Idris, a journalist for Al Jazeera, claimed that it was up to Ouattara to “unite a deeply divided nation” and that he needed to work hard to persuade his critics.
Before becoming prime minister in 1990, Ouattara, who had a distinguished career at the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of West African States, has emphasized how much the economy has improved under his leadership, including improved infrastructure and stability, as well as increased foreign investment.
However, corruption persists and social inequality persists.
A public debt of about 60% of GDP is still a significant burden on the former French colony, which is also the country’s top producer of cocoa, and there are still significant educational and health gaps.
“Many Ivorians believe that their economic success has not yet been reached. Many of them claim that due to the high cost of living, their families continue to struggle. Additionally, Idris noted that there are fewer jobs available to young people.
He claimed Ouattara had promised to implement reforms to eliminate inequality. It’s not yet clear whether or not that will result in significant employment opportunities, job creation, and more wealth for people, he said.
threats to security
In a region where regional instability is increasing, Ouattara’s campaign had a strong emphasis on security.
As violence threatens to spread to Sahel neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, where armed groups like Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) and the ISIL affiliate in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have been staging a bloody rampage.
Since 2022, his administration has increased troop deployments in the Sahel’s northern regions, increased the defense budget, and purchased armored tanks from nations like China.
He has pledged to assist in the passing of the torch to a new generation of political leaders as internal instability increases. The ruling party is rife with division and there is no known successor at this time.
International Crisis Group deputy director of the Africa program, Rinaldo Dipagne, claimed that appointing a successor to the country’s founding president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, would lead to the same kind of crisis that followed the country’s 1993 armed conflict.
According to Reuters, Dipagne was quoted as saying, “People saw that they didn’t have a future with politics, or they couldn’t imagine that politics would bring about positive change in the country.”
