Ivorian police officers use tear gas to disperse a group of journalists as they block the street next to Ivory Coast's presidential candidate Henri Konan Bedies house in Abidjan
Credit: AFP
Election officials in the Ivory Coast have said that President Alassane Ouattara has overwhelmingly won a third term in office after his two main opponents boycotted the election and called his bid to run again illegal.
In a sign of mounting tensions over the vote, security forces used tear gas to break up a news conference held by the political opposition. The move came hours after opposition leaders said they considered Ouattara’s mandate to be over.
There have been widespread fears that post-election violence could erupt in Ivory Coast, where more than 3,000 people were killed a decade ago following a disputed vote.
Mr Ouattara, a US-educated economist, has been credited with delivering both stability and prosperity to the Ivory Coast since coming to office ten years ago. But he has has been accused of trying to cling to power after breaking a promise not to run for a third term. He made the decision to do so after his chosen successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died suddenly of a heart attack in July.
Months of protest and deadly unrest have ensued since, with the opposition boycotting the October 31 election and accusing Mr Ouattara of carrying out an "electoral coup". There are fears of a repeat of the post-election violence of 2010, where more than 3,000 people were killed following a disputed vote. The opposition coalition says more than 30 people have already died in violence linked to last Saturday’s election.
A man walks past a campaign poster of Ivory Coast's presidential candidate Kouadio Konan Bertin for Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) in Abidjan on November 3, 2020
Credit: AFP
On Monday night, opposition leaders said their call for civil disobedience was still in effect and told its supporters "to remain mobilized until the final victory."
Mr Ouattara received 94.3% of the vote in Saturday’s election, the commission said on Tuesday. Turnout was 53.9%, according to election officials, while the opposition has maintained only 10% of Ivorian voters took part. Mr Ouattara had been expected to easily win the election after leading opposition figures Pascal Affi N’Guessan and Henri Konan Bedie called on their supporters to stay at home.
According to official results released on Tuesday, they received 0.99% and 1.66% of the votes, respectively. The only opposition candidate who still took part, Kouadio Konan Bertin, won 1.99% of the votes cast, the commission said.
Mr Ouattara was the internationally recognized winner of the disputed 2010 election when then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat. Both men held their own inauguration ceremonies and the standoff persisted for months until pro-Ouattara forces captured Gbagbo from his underground bunker.
Gbagbo was later acquitted of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, though prosecutors are appealing. In the years since, critics say Mr Ouattara’s government has failed to bring about national reconciliation, concentrating prosecutions on the crimes committed by Gbagbo loyalists.
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