Ivory Coast President, Alassane Ouattara says he will seek re-election in October, through an address delivered to the nation in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on August 6, 2020.
Ouattara, who has governed since 2011, said in March he will not run again. But his preferred successor, then-Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died in July, leading the party to ask Ouattara to reconsider.
Ouattara said in a televised speech on Thursday that he sees his decision for accepting to run for the third term as a very huge sacrifice and favour for the citizens.”I have decided to respond favourably to the call of my fellow citizens. Given my previous promise, this decision represents a real sacrifice for me”.
His opponents say the two-term limit in the constitution bars him from running again, but Ouattara has said his first two mandates do not count under the new constitution adopted in 2016. “Formally accepting the governing party’s nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term”.
The opposition party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), called his decision to run as president “pathetic”.
FPI is the party of Ivory Coast’s former president, Laurent Gbagbo. Who was exculpated of four counts of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011 bloodshed: murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts.
Gbagbo, freed conditionally by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, has applied for a passport so that he can return home for the election.
His one-time Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan was named on Saturday as its candidate, ending speculation Gbagbo might return from abroad to stand.
Prosecutors at the ICC are appealing Gbagbo’s acquittal.
A spokesman for FPI, Issiaka Sangare added: “Ivory Coast could have given another signal that would have allowed democracy to continue”.
Ouattara’s other main challenger will be Henri Konan Bedie, who was president from 1993-1999 and has been confirmed as the candidate of one of the country’s largest parties, the PDCI.
Since 2010, the competition was expected to be intense when Gbagbo’s refusal to step down after Ouattara’s victory sparked the deadly conflict.
According to Bedie, he and Gbagbo have agreed that their parties would back the other’s candidate in the event of a second-round runoff against Ouattara.
The first round of polling will be held on October 31.
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