Ivory Coast opposition weighs next move ahead of presidential vote
Ivory Coast's opposition is weighing its options after four of its top figures were excluded from the October 25 presidential race.
Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), was removed from the electoral roll in April after a court questioned his Ivorian nationality.
Former president Laurent Gbagbo, his former ally Charles Ble Goude and exiled ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro were also ruled out over past convictions.
None of the four can run or vote.
Can the disqualified candidates be reinstated?
Reinstatement hinges on revising the electoral roll before an August 26 deadline which has been ruled out by electoral commission head Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who cited time constraints.
Gbagbo, Ble Goude and Soro would also need an amnesty law or presidential pardon to wipe their records.
"In the current context, nothing indicates we are heading towards such a decision," William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), told AFP.
Do Thiam and Gbagbo have a plan B?
The option of a surrogate candidate -- as seen in Senegal when opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko endorsed Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the presidential ballot after he was barred from running himself -- is off the table for both the PDCI and Gbagbo's PPA-CI.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy
IC Markets
Tìm hiểu thêm
Undo
"Gbagbo never imagined such a scenario. He is part of the generation that blocks the political horizon of the youth in his party," said Francis Akindes, a political analyst at Bouake university.
"If we put forward someone else with a chance of winning, they too will be eliminated," a close associate of Thiam said.
The government insists it is not meddling in the electoral process and is merely implementing rulings from an independent judiciary.
The idea of rallying behind Jean-Louis Billon, a former trade minister and PDCI dissident who says he wants to represent the party, is not under consideration.
Is a boycott on the table?
With no alternative plan, talk of a boycott by the side-lined opposition parties is resurfacing.
"We will never again miss elections," Gbagbo said in August 2023.
Gbagbo on Thursday unveiled a civic movement called "Enough is Enough" aimed at rallying social demands and resisting a potential fourth term bid by President Alassane Ouattara.
On Saturday, he told supporters to be "ready for a fight". "At some point, we will have to flood all the streets of Abidjan."
Assanvo, from the ISS, said Gbagbo's PPA-CI has mobilisation capacity, but for Thiam's PDCI party, taking to the streets is not part of its "political culture".
"What's happening is playing out among a political elite that young people don't feel connected to," said Akindes.
A source close to Thiam said the results of an election without the PDCI or the PPA-CI will have "no legitimacy".
Can the opposition unite behind one candidate?
The PDCI and Ble Goude's Cojep party have joined a broader opposition group known as the Coalition for Peaceful Change (CAP-CI).
The coalition has two declared and eligible candidates -- former first lady Simone Gbagbo and ex-prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan.
For now, CAP-CI members are calling for political dialogue and electoral reforms and are avoiding committing to a single candidate.
Gbagbo's party, at odds with both his ex-wife and Ble Goude, remains outside the alliance.
"This coalition is not an electoral alliance, it's a coalition to demand a fair vote," Assanvo said.
"Will it change its nature? That seems unlikely."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Time of India
Shubhanshu Shukla likely to arrive in India this weekend: Jitendra Singh
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla , the second Indian to travel to space and the first to visit the International Space Station (ISS), is expected to arrive in India this weekend, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. Independence Day 2025 Before Trump, British used tariffs to kill Indian textile Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji gave India its own currency Swadeshi 2.0: India is no longer just a market, it's a maker Singh said Shukla is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his short stay in Delhi before he leaves for his hometown, Lucknow , to meet his family. He will return to Delhi for National Space Day celebrations on August 23, the minister said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 3BHK -Kalyani LivingTree, KIADB, Pay 10%, 0 EMI for 1 Year* Kalyani Developers Learn More Undo Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the ISS on June 26. Along with three other astronauts, Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission. The Dragon spacecraft carrying the Axiom-4 crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the San Diego coast on July 15, marking the successful completion of the mission. Live Events The mission is considered a significant milestone for India's own human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan which is targeting a launch by 2027. The mission was hailed by PM Modi who said Shukla has inspired a billion dreams and has taken a significant step in taking forward India's space ambitions.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
SP walks out of UP Vidhan Parishad over school merger
The Samajwadi Party (SP) staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) on the school merger issue on the first day of the Monsoon Session of the State Legislative Assembly on Monday. SP legislators staging a protest at the Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on August 11. (HT photo) SP MLCs Mukul Yadav, Ashutosh Sinha, Balram Yadav, Rajendra Chaudhary, Jasmeer Ansari and the leader of opposition in the Vidhan Parishad Lal Bihari Yadav raised the issue. 'The level of education in the BJP regime is deteriorating day by day. The current dispensation doesn't want children of Dalits, backwards and minorities to get educated and that is why it is conspiring to keep children of these classes away from education,' alleged Lal Bihari Yadav. 'The government is planning to hand over education into private hands. The government should not look at education as a business. Instead of closing the schools, the government should focus on increasing the number of students,' he claimed. Yadav also claimed that madrasas in the state, which were built by the money contributed as Zakat (donation) by the Muslim community, had to face unnecessary audits and investigations. Meanwhile, basic education minister Sandeep Singh in his reply said school merger was being done to improve the quality of education and promote classroom learning. 'The state of education system in UP before 2017 is not hidden from anyone. Earlier, no one used to talk about increasing the number of students. There were around three crore children who were not getting education during the SP regime,' the minister said. 'School merger will also increase the grant money from the Centre which is given as per the number of students,' he added. However, soon the SP MLCs interrupted and staged a walkout. Earlier, SP MLC Man Singh Yadav raised the issue of the old pension scheme. 'If the new pension scheme is that good, why has it not been implemented for legislators and in the judiciary?' he asked. Another SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha demanded that the state government employees should be given a choice between the old and the new pension schemes. Moreover, BJP MLCs Jai Pal Singh 'Vyastha' and Anoop Kumar Gupta congratulated Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force for being the first Indian ever to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS).
Hindustan Times
06-08-2025
- Hindustan Times
NASA and Congress Wrestle Over the Space Station—and How to Replace It
The fight over government spending is reaching 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The International Space Station for more than two decades has been the centerpiece of human spaceflight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government leaders are now jousting over funding for the ISS, while NASA is signaling it will start pulling back on some station activities ahead of its planned decommissioning in 2030, when private space stations are envisioned taking its place. Last month, NASA directed Boeing to cut back on station-related services that the aerospace giant manages under a longstanding contract, according to a letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Officials at the agency are studying sending smaller crews to the ISS instead of the typical four, translating to less onboard research. Sean Duffy, NASA's acting administrator, on Monday laid out a plan that would provide agency support for a wider range of private stations under development. In a memo viewed by the Journal, Duffy said the approach would give NASA and station developers more flexibility. 'It is important to move quickly,' he said in the memo. The order was one of Duffy's first moves since President Trump appointed him to run NASA on a temporary basis in July, a role he is handling in addition to leading the Transportation Department. NASA is famed for sending astronauts to the moon, but the space station has been the focal point of its high-profile human missions in recent decades. NASA and international crews have continuously manned the facility for almost 25 years, the agency has said, pursuing science and studying how humans can live in orbit. The ISS—managed by the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada—is also showing its age. Leaks in part of the station operated by Russia keep occurring. Earlier this year, the White House proposed cutting funding for the ISS, saying in a budget pitch that NASA should focus efforts there on 'very limited' research that is essential to exploration of the moon and Mars. Many members of Congress have pushed back. The ISS received money in the Republicans' landmark tax-and-budget bill, and a recent Senate legislative report said NASA should 'maintain the fullest possible use of ISS through end of life.' U.S. government leaders want to avoid any gap between the ISS and future private facilities—in large part because China has its own station, called Tiangong, now flying. 'We must put the necessary systems in place to support and command American astronauts continually in low Earth orbit,' said Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), chairman of the Commerce Committee, during a hearing in April. 'We cannot surrender low Earth orbit to the Chinese or to the Russians.' U.S. companies aiming to build private facilities in low-Earth orbit include Voyager Technologies, Axiom Space, Vast and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. SpaceX has considered using part of its Starship vehicle as an orbital station as well. Several companies have received NASA funding to help develop commercial stations that could replace the ISS, and the agency has struck unfunded agreements with other firms working on station efforts. Building and deploying a new facility could cost around $3 billion or more, according to station developers. Many executives have expected NASA this year to begin picking one or more station developers to receive bigger contracts, narrowing the field of developers. The directive from Duffy moves away from that approach, instructing staff to instead continue supporting a range of station development work. Duffy on Monday also issued a separate memo calling for NASA to accelerate work to develop nuclear power facilities on the moon and Mars. Politico reported earlier on his memos. Write to Micah Maidenberg at
