Ineligible for the October 25 presidential election, former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo has announced that he will not support any of the candidates approved by the Constitutional Council. Denouncing what he calls a process lacking legitimacy, he is calling on his supporters to engage in democratic and peaceful resistance.

With just weeks to go before the presidential vote, Côte d’Ivoire is sinking into a tense political climate. On September 18, Laurent Gbagbo declared that he would not back any of the five candidates in the race. According to him, the electoral process is skewed, as the approved candidacies do not reflect the choices of the country’s major political parties.

Indeed, the Constitutional Council has disqualified several major opposition figures, including Gbagbo himself and former minister Tidjane Thiam, paving the way for an election largely dominated by incumbent president Alassane Ouattara, who has been in power since 2011 and is now seeking a fourth term.

The opposition argues that the Ivorian Constitution clearly limits the number of presidential terms to two, but the Constitutional Council claims that the 2016 constitutional reform reset the term count, thus legitimizing Ouattara’s new candidacy.

In response to what he sees as a democratic deadlock, Gbagbo is refusing any alliance, citing a lack of “consensus” and “sufficient legitimacy.”
On Thursday, he stated that “democratic and peaceful actions” are now “the way forward” to oppose the fourth term bid.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly reminded the public that the Constitutional Council’s decisions are final and cannot be challenged.
“Those who contest the Council’s decision will be subject to the law,” he warned.