Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara has won a fourth term, achieving an overwhelming 89.77 per cent in an election from which his two main rivals were barred, the electoral commission announced on Monday.
Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballots on Saturday in the world’s leading cocoa producer, which has successfully resisted coups and jihadist attacks that plague much of West Africa. However, tensions rose sharply, resulting in deadly violence in the lead-up to the election.
Ouattara was expected to dominate the polls even before the provisional results were announced. Early counts on Sunday indicated he had garnered over 90 per cent of the vote, and turnout was close to 100 per cent in his northern strongholds.
The political veteran was also leading in traditionally pro-opposition areas in the south and parts of the economic hub of Abidjan, where polling stations were almost empty on Saturday.
Entrepreneur Jean-Louis Billon finished second to the veteran leader with 3.09 per cent, according to the commission’s president, Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who reported a turnout of 50.10 per cent—similar to the level in 2020, when Ouattara won 94 per cent of the vote in an election boycotted by his primary opponents.
This time, Ouattara’s leading rivals—former president Laurent Gbagbo and ex-CEO of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam—were both barred from standing. Gbagbo was excluded due to a criminal conviction, while Thiam was disqualified for acquiring French nationality.
“Their absence, their calls not to participate in the election, and the deteriorating climate of tension in recent days foretold a significant demobilisation of the electorate,” remarked William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
In the southern city of Gagnoa, Gbagbo’s former stronghold, Ouattara won 92 per cent of the vote, albeit with a turnout rate of only 20 per cent.
The opposition has already denied “any legitimacy” to Ouattara and has called for new elections.
‘A Calm Election’
Political analyst Geoffroy Kouao believes “the turnout rate shows two things.”
“Firstly, Mr Ouattara’s supporters turned out in force, as indicated by the Soviet-style results in certain regions,” Kouao stated.
“And secondly, supporters of the parties led by Gbagbo and Thiam did not go to the polls.”
Billon also expressed concerns on Sunday regarding “very low turnout in some regions,” while still congratulating Ouattara.
Billon and the other candidates on the ballot, including former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, lacked the support from a major party or significant financial resources to have any chance of reaching a second round.
Earlier calls for protests by the main opposition led to deadly unrest in the lead-up to the election, with at least eight people killed this month and nearly two dozen reported injured in clashes at around 200 polling stations on election day.
The government had declared a nighttime curfew in some areas and deployed 44,000 security personnel. The country’s presidential elections are typically fraught with tension and unrest.
Ouattara first came to power following the 2010-2011 presidential conflict with Laurent Gbagbo, which resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 supporters of both sides.
On Monday, Abidjan returned to near-normal activity after the capital had been unusually deserted over the weekend.
“The Ivorians said NO to prophets of doom,” proclaimed the Patriote, a pro-Ouattara newspaper, praising “a calm election.”
Conversely, the opposition daily, Notre Voie, highlighted “an election reflecting a divided country.”
