Former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam and ex-President Laurent Gbagbo have been barred from contesting next month’s presidential election in Ivory Coast, officials announced on Monday. However, Simone Gbagbo, the former first lady, has been cleared to run.
The ruling by the Constitutional Council comes as 83-year-old President Alassane Ouattara prepares to seek a fourth term in the world’s top cocoa-producing nation. With the main opposition sidelined, analysts expect Ouattara to face little resistance at the polls.
Thiam, the candidate of the opposition Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), was widely expected to be disqualified. In April, a court ruled that he should be removed from the electoral roll because he was a French national when he registered. Ivorian law requires candidates to hold only Ivorian citizenship.
Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to accept defeat in the 2010 election, was also excluded. His defiance triggered a brief civil war that claimed more than 3,000 lives before his arrest alongside Simone Gbagbo in Abidjan. He was later acquitted of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, while Simone was convicted of offences against the state before being granted amnesty by Ouattara in 2018.
Announcing the decision, Constitutional Council President Chantal Nanaba Camara said five candidacies out of 60 had been validated, including Ouattara’s. The official campaign period begins on October 10.
Thiam criticised the decision, warning that the election risked becoming a “coronation” for Ouattara. He also argued that a fourth term would be unconstitutional, though Ouattara insists that a 2016 constitutional reform reset his two-term limit.
The exclusion of major opposition figures has raised concerns about renewed unrest in Francophone West Africa’s largest economy, which has a history of election-related violence. Ouattara’s government has pledged that next month’s poll will be peaceful.
