Ivory Coast: Guide To Presidential Candidates, Key Issues And Voting Process | International Business Times

The ethnic and economic tensions that prompted Ivory Coast’s deadly civil war five years ago are flaring up again as the West African nation prepares to hold its first presidential election Sunday since the violence that left 3,000 dead and displaced 500,000 others. President Alassane Ouattara is all but expected to win a second term after overseeing an economic revival that has fueled investment in infrastructure and foreign trade. But the threat of post-poll violence looms amid growing complaints of inequality. “The vote will be a major test of the capacity of Côte d’Ivoire [French for Ivory Coast], which has a long history of election-related violence, to hold peaceful and democratic elections,” Jim Wormington, a researcher with Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division in Washington, D.C., wrote in a recent report. Whoever wins must spread the country’s recent economic wealth beyond urban areas and rebuild Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower, as an inclusive and united state to avoid another deadly war, experts said. Below is our guide to what’s at stake in Sunday’s presidential election.

Ivory Coast: What to expect from upcoming elections in the Ivory Coast | Ventures Africa

Ivory Coast presidential elections will take place on the 25th of October, and barely 2 weeks to the set date, there are already whispers of a ‘rigged’ election. Ivory Coast’s President, Allasane Quattara has been accused of colluding with the Electoral commission of the Ivory Coast to ‘sabotage’ the elections. Quattara, who is contesting for a second term in office through his party Rally of the Republicans, is receiving backlashes from opposition candidates who have called for dialogue with him. They reportedly want the dissolution of the Electoral Commission in the country. October’s election marks the first election held in this West African Country since 2010. The President of Ivory Coast in 2010, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to cede the Presidency to Allasane Quattara who had been declared the winner. This triggered a civil war that lasted 5 months and killed about 3,000 people. Allasane Quattara was later installed as the President through the combined efforts of the African Union and French forces. Laurent Gbagbo is currently awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ivory Coast: Ten Candidates to Stand in Ivory Coast Presidential Election | VoA News

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara faces a fragmented opposition in his bid for re-election next month. No less than 33 candidates had applied to run, with the Constitutional Court clearing a final 10. Ten candidates, eight men and two women, will compete in the October 25th presidential election in Ivory Coast. One of the questions the country’s Constitutional Council had to answer was whether incumbent Alassane Ouattara was eligible to run again. Some of his opponents claimed he did not meet all the criteria, but the council president, Mamadou Kone, concluded he did. He said that after inspecting Ouattara’s application he found it to be in keeping with the electoral legal requirements, and his name will be added to the final list of candidates to run for the presidency.

Ivory Coast: Ivorians braces for parliamentary elections | BBC News

United Nations troops are on patrol in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, as the country braces for parliamentary elections on Sunday. The vote is the first since presidential polls a year ago sparked months of violence after the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to step down.

Mr Gbagbo is awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity. His Ivorian Popular Front party has called for an election boycott. The former president and his supporters claim the electoral commission is loyal to the new governing party led by Mr Gbagbo’s rival, President Alassane Ouattara, and will falsify the results. They also accuses the army of intimidating supporters during the campaign.

Ivory Coast: Former Ivorian Ruling Party Quits Election Commission | VoA News

Ivory Coast’s former ruling party has pulled out of the electoral commission, saying the new government refuses to include opponents in planning for coming parliamentary polls. Ivory Coast’s president says he hopes the former ruling party will take part in that vote.

Former President Laurent Gbagbo’s party says it is quitting the electoral commission because the government of President Alassane Ouattara is refusing to engage in a dialogue on security, the electoral commission, and preparations for legislative polls.

Ivory Coast: Gbagbo party quits Ivory Coast election commission | AFP

The party of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo said it has pulled out of Ivory Coast’s election commission, which is preparing December polls aimed at normalising the country after a deadly political crisis.

The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) “is suspending its participation in all activities of the Independent Election Commission,” party secretary general Laurent Akoun said in a letter to the body’s president Youssouf Bakayoko, dated Tuesday and released to the media on Wednesday.