Alassane Ouattara, the President of Ivory Coast and presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, gestures during an interview with AFP at the presidential palace in Abidjan on October, 28, 2020. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)
Ivory Coast has been in turmoil after President Alassane Ouattara shook the country by declaring he would run for a third term in the elections on October 31.
A timeline:
- Ouattara steps aside -
On March 5, 2020, Ouattara, 78, announces he will not run for a third term in order to make way for "the younger generation". It ends months of speculation over whether he would seek another mandate.
- Coulibaly steps in -
In mid-March, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly is nominated as the ruling RHDP party's candidate.
- Sudden death -
On July 8, Coulibaly dies unexpectedly from a heart attack, plunging the country into uncertainty.
- Ouattara will run -
On August 6, Ouattara finally announces he will seek re-election in October.
The opposition slam the decision, saying it is against the constitution, which allows two terms, but Ouattara and his supporters argue that a 2016 constitutional tweak reset the clock.
- Protests and violence -
Ouattara's announcement triggers protests that turn violent, leaving around 15 people dead.
On August 22, Ouattara is formally chosen by his party to run for a third term.
- Gbagbo and Soro candidates -
On September 3, former president Laurent Gbagbo, as well as former rebel leader, turned prime minister Guillaume Soro also file their candidacies.
The ex-president Henri Konan Bedie, 86, is officially nominated as a candidate for his party on September 12.
- Validated and rejected -
On September 14, the country's top court authorises only four candidacies out of 44 applications it received. It validates Ouattara's bid but bars Gbagbo and Soro.
- Boycott call -
On October 15, Bedie and former prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan -- two leading opposition candidates -- call for an "active boycott" of the electoral process running up to the poll, which they brand "illegal".
Since August, deadly incidents and clashes have left around 30 people dead.
