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Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara won Oct. 25’s election by a landslide, according to provisional results announced on Monday, in a widely anticipated fourth-term victory.
Major opposition candidates were excluded from the race in the lead-up to voting, including former Credit Suisse president Tidjane Thiam and former President Laurent Gbagbo. Ouattara had previously amended the constitution in 2016, allowing him to run beyond the regular two-term limits.
Former Commerce Minister Jean-Louis Billon received 3.09% of the vote, while former first lady Simone Gbagbo (the ex-wife of Laurent) received 2.42%, according to the electoral commission.
“There was no point in voting. Everything was put in place for Ouattara to win these elections. Candidates Thiam and Laurent Gbagbo were eliminated. There was nothing at stake,” one Abidjan resident told Reuters.
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During his presidency, Ouattara, who is now 83, has seen an unprecedented period of economic growth in Francophone West Africa’s largest economy and the world’s largest cocoa producer: The country’s annual GDP growth reached 6.4% this year, from around 2% just before he took power in 2010, and the former international banker has made clear his goal of Côte d’Ivoire achieving upper middle-income status by 2030.
Despite Ouattara’s narrative that another term would “preserve national stability,” he said on announcing his run in July, this is hardly guaranteed: Mass protests have rocked the country over the exclusion of Thiam and Gbagbo, and there are concerns that, due to his advanced age, Ouattara may not see through another five years in power.
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- Is the purpose of democracy to hold regular elections— or to ensure a process which truly reflects the will of the people?