Latest news with #DemocraticPartyofCoted'Ivoire
The Star
6 days ago
- General
- The Star
Ivory Coast's final electoral list excludes opposition leader Thiam
FILE PHOTO: Partisans of PDCI (Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire) protest against the Ivorian justice decision to remove their leader Tidjane Thiam from the electoral list, at their headquarters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo ABIDJAN (Reuters) -Ivory Coast opposition leader and former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam has been excluded from the country's final list of presidential candidates, rendering him ineligible to contest an October election, a party official said on Wednesday. Thiam told Reuters in April he would not drop his presidential bid despite a court ruling that his name be struck from the list due to his French nationality at the time of registration. The electoral commission's decision risks reviving tensions in a country that emerged from more than a decade of civil war in the early 2000s. The conflict was partly fuelled by disputes over nationality and electoral eligibility. Thiam, 62, was elected as leader of the PDCI, the main opposition party in the world's top cocoa-producing nation, in December 2023. "My removal from the electoral roll by the Independent Electoral Commission is a sad but telling example of Ivory Coast's abandonment of democracy," Thiam said in a statement to Reuters. "We will fight, fight for democracy and peace in our country," said Simon Doho, president of the PDCI parliamentary group. Other prominent politicians, including former president Laurent Gbagbo and his close ally Charles Ble Goude - both acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity related to the civil war - were also ruled ineligible for the October election. So too was former prime minister and rebel leader Guillaume Soro, who was sentenced in absentia to life in prison in 2021 on charges of plotting a coup against his former ally, President Alassane Ouattara. Ouattara, who has served three terms, has not declared whether he'll run in the election. His ruling RHDP party is scheduled to select its candidate on June 21 and 22. Thiam's lawyer, Mathias Chichportich, said his client had filed a complaint on Tuesday with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. "This action seeks to compel the Ivorian state to take all necessary measures to ensure that the presidential election is held under fair, inclusive, and democratic conditions," Chichportich said. (Reporting by Ange Aboa; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Straits Times
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ivory Coast court strikes Thiam's name off electoral roll over French nationality
Tidjane Thiam, president of the PDCI (Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire), speaks during a meeting as the country prepares for the presidential election in Yopougon, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, February 15, 2025. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo ABIDJAN - A court in Ivory Coast ruled on Tuesday that opposition leader and former Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam should be removed from the electoral roll because he was a French national when he registered, his lawyer said. The decision, which cannot be appealed, could end the Ivorian-born Thiam's ambition to run in the world's top cocoa-producing nation's presidential election, expected in October. "Given his French nationality and in accordance with Article 48 of the Ivorian Nationality Code, he was no longer Ivorian at the time he registered on the electoral roll," Thiam's lawyer told Reuters. In 2023, Thiam was elected leader of PDCI, one of the country's main opposition parties, making him a likely candidate for the presidential election. He renounced his French citizenship in February in order to meet eligibility conditions for the election and announced that he would be a candidate. Ivory Coast law states that candidates must be Ivorian citizens and cannot hold another nationality. Last month, a decision published in France's official journal showed that Thiam had been relieved of his French citizenship. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
