Latest news with #RallyofHouphouetistsforDemocracyandPeace
Morocco World
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
President Ouattara's Fourth-Term Bid Is a Test for Fragile Ivorian Democracy
Rabat – Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, 83, has announced that he will seek a fourth Presidential term in the West African nation's upcoming elections. In June, he had been officially nominated as the candidate for the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace party. Ouattara justified this announcement, which both many leading Ivorian politicians and watchers of Ivorian politics have strongly denounced as an unfortunate development and a betrayal of the president's earlier vision for democratic governance, by citing the new constitution passed in 2016. Since his hardfought, crisis-ladden election in 2011, President Outtara has served three controversial terms. But with the adoption of the new constitution in 2016, his camp interestingly though ultimately controversially and unconvincingly argues that the upcoming election, which he is expected to win, will legally be a second term for the president. Potentially legal but ultimately illegitimate Critics have maintained that while the president's candidacy might be legal because of the clean slate effect the new constitution has had on his presidential tenure, his defiant bid to stay president is unwelcome and illegitimate. The election will take place on October 25, 2025, and is set to determine the future of democracy in Ivory Coast. President Ouattara announced his re-election bid announcement during a televised speech on Tuesday. 'For several months, I have received numerous calls from fellow citizens regarding my potential candidacy in the presidential election, women and young people from all regions of Cote d'Ivoire,' he offered. 'I announced on June 22 that as president of Ivorians I would after careful reflection make a decision guided solely by the best interest of the nation.' This comes as the president has launched what critics and opposition leaders have described as a campaign of oppression and authoritarian control tightening his increasingly dictatorial grip on the Ivorian political scene. Several opposition candidates have in recent months been banned from running for president for a number of unclear reasons. The most notable are former president Luarent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, a celebrated banker and capable technocrat many saw as the favorite to win the presidency. Ouattara disqualified Thiam, whom even his camp saw as the president's most formidable opponent, over claims that he had not renounced his French citizenship before filing his application to run for the presidency. Under Ivorian electoral law, presidential candidates cannot hold dual citizenship. Violence is common during elections in the Ivory Coast. The fiercely contested 2011 elections that handed Ouattara his first controversial mandate saw a post-electoral unrest in which at least 3000 died. Human rights organisations have accused the president of destroying Ivorian democracy and leading to a massive democratic decline in the West African country. Tags: Alassane OuattaraCote d'Ivoire
Eyewitness News
29-07-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
I.Coast President Ouattara, 83, says will seek fourth term
ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Tuesday he will seek a fourth term in the west African country, as tensions rise over the exclusion of many heavyweight opposition candidates. Ouattara, 83, has led Ivory Coast since 2011. He had been earlier officially nominated by his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party as its candidate, but had not yet said if he would contest the October 25 election. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," he said, adding that the world's top cocoa producer was "facing unprecedented security, economic, and monetary challenges, the management of which requires experience". Critics of Ouattara accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose him running again. The opposition has accused the authorities of choosing their opponents by legal means, but the government insists the judiciary acts independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election. This alliance brings together the African People's Party of Ivory Coast (PPACI) - led by former president Laurent Gbagbo - and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam. Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro have been struck from the electoral register due to criminal convictions. Thiam was also excluded by the judiciary over nationality issues. Ouattara worked at the International Monetary Fund and the west African regional bank BCEAO and entered politics when Ivory Coast's founding president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, appointed him to chair a body on economic recovery in the midst of an economic crisis. As Houphouet-Boigny's health worsened, Ouattara assumed more and more responsibility for overseeing the country's affairs. POWER STRUGGLE When the ailing president died in December 1993, Ouattara was embroiled in a brief power struggle with Henri Konan Bedie, the speaker of parliament, and then left Ivory Coast to join the IMF. In 1995, he joined the new Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party and planned on running as their presidential candidate. But he was barred from doing so following new laws requiring both parents of a candidate to be of Ivorian birth for the candidate to have lived continuously in Ivory Coast prior to an election. He was barred from polls in 2000 on the same grounds. A failed coup two years later led to a low-level civil war, leaving the country divided into the rebel-held and predominantly Muslim north, where Ouattara drew much of his support, and the government-controlled Christian-majority south. Ouattara who was subjected to violence during the unrest, left the country but returned to contest an election in 2010. Then-president Gbagbo's refusal to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara led to another period of unrest, in which more than 3,000 people were killed, before Ouattara became president in 2011. Gbagbo was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague but still has a conviction in Ivory Coast stemming from the violent post-election crisis that ended his rule. Critics have already questioned the legality of Ouattara's third term as the constitution limites presidential terms to two. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote and Ouattara won by a landslide.
DW
29-07-2025
- Business
- DW
Ivory Coast President Ouattara seeks fourth term – DW – 07/29/2025
A former banker, President Alassane Ouattara did well for the country's economy, but critics accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. He has led the Ivory Coast since 2011. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday that he will seek a fourth term in the country's October 25 presidential election, while tensions rise over the exclusion of several prominent opposition candidates. Ouattara had been nominated by his party, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), but he waited until Tuesday to confirm he would run. The opposition, however, has said a fourth term would be unconstitutional. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," Ouattara said. The 83-year-old Ouattara is a former international banker and has led Ivory Coast since 2011. Previously, he had said he would like to step down. Ouattara, an economist trained in the US, has long pitched himself as a savvy technocrat capable of delivering steady growth. The numbers support him, with the IMF projecting GDP growth of 6.3% this year, matching the average from the past decade. Ouattara has made deals that helped him win two earlier reelections and stopped the kind of widespread violence that happened after he beat Laurent Gbagbo in 2010. Gbagbo's refusal to accept defeat sparked a brief civil war that killed over 3,000 people and ended only when he was arrested in a bunker at his Abidjan residence. After having served his limit of two terms, Ouattara was only able to run for a third after a new constitution reset his time in office. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote, and Ouattara won by a landslide. The vote, however, was marred when at least 85 people were killed in the ensuing unrest. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Political analyst Arthur Banga said Ouattara's "primary success has been on the macroeconomic side" and restoring the Ivory Coast's "international influence." "But there are still democratic challenges to overcome," he added, citing lingering fears of election-related violence. Critics accuse the president of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. The opposition has accused authorities of using legal means to target their rivals and exclude Ouattara's opponents from elections. Ouattara's most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, was legally kept from running when a court ruled he was a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy despite later renouncing his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. The government insists the judiciary operates independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign demanding the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election.
Al Jazeera
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Ivory Coast's president says will seek fourth term in office
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has announced he will seek a fourth term leading the West African nation, as tensions rise over the exclusion of many heavyweight opposition candidates. Earlier, he had been officially nominated by his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party as its candidate, but had not yet said if he would contest the October 25 election. With the country's most high-profile opposition politicians ruled ineligible, Ouattara is the clear frontrunner. The 83-year-old president, who has led the country since 2011, declared his plan in a televised announcement on Tuesday. 'For several months, I have received numerous calls from fellow citizens regarding my potential candidacy in the presidential election,' he said. Referring to the country by its name in French, he went on: 'Women and young people from all regions of Cote d'Ivoire, and countless anonymous voices from our neighbourhoods, towns, and villages have reached out. 'In response to those appeals, I announced on June 22 that, as president of all Ivorians, I would, after careful reflection, make a decision guided solely by the best interest of the nation.' Ouattara won a third term in 2020 after the constitution was changed to reset the presidential term limit. He had said he was not going to run again, but he changed his position following the death of his hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Opposition campaign Critics of Ouattara accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his running again. The opposition has accused the authorities of targeting their opponents by legal means, but the government insists the judiciary acts independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election. This alliance brings together the African People's Party of Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) – led by former president Laurent Gbagbo – and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam. Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro have been struck from the electoral register due to criminal convictions. Ouattara's most prominent rival, Thiam, was barred from running by a court on the grounds that he was still a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy, even though he later renounced his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. Some previous elections in the Ivory Coast have been fraught with tension and violence. When Ouattara announced his third-term bid, several people were killed in the ensuing violence. There have been protests against the court's decision to bar Thiam from contesting the election. Ouattara is the latest among a growing number of leaders in West Africa who remain in power after changing the constitutional term limit. Coup leaders in the region have used alleged corruption within democratic governments and electoral changes as a pretext to seize power, leading to a split in the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
DW
29-07-2025
- Business
- DW
Ivory Coast President Ouattara seeks for fourth term – DW – 07/29/2025
Ivory Coast President Ouattara has led the country since 2011. The banker did well for the nation's economy, but critics accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday that he will seek a fourth term in the country's October 25 presidential election, while tensions rise over the exclusion of several prominent opposition candidates. Ouattara had been nominated by his party, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), but he waited until Tuesday to confirm he would run. The opposition, however, has said a fourth term would be unconstitutional. "I am a candidate because the constitution of our country allows me to run for another term and my health permits it," Ouattara said. The 83-year-old Ouattara is a former international banker and has led Ivory Coast since 2011. Previously, he had said he would like to step down. Ouattara, an economist trained in the US, has long pitched himself as a savvy technocrat capable of delivering steady growth. The numbers support him, with the IMF projecting GDP growth of 6.3% this year, matching the average from the past decade. Ouattara has made deals that helped him win two earlier reelections and stopped the kind of widespread violence that happened after he beat Laurent Gbagbo in 2010. Gbagbo's refusal to accept defeat sparked a brief civil war that killed over 3,000 people and ended only when he was arrested in a bunker at his Abidjan residence. After having served his limit of two terms, Ouattara was only able to run for a third after a new constitution reset his time in office. The opposition boycotted the 2020 vote, and Ouattara won by a landslide. The vote, however, was marred when at least 85 people were killed in the ensuing unrest. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Political analyst Arthur Banga said Ouattara's "primary success has been on the macroeconomic side" and restoring the Ivory Coast's "international influence." "But there are still democratic challenges to overcome," he added, citing lingering fears of election-related violence. Critics accuse the president of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his reelection bid. The opposition has accused authorities of using legal means to target their rivals and exclude Ouattara's opponents from elections. Ouattara's most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, was legally kept from running when a court ruled he was a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy despite later renouncing his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. The government insists the judiciary operates independently. The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign demanding the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election.
