Ofure Akhigbe
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has been re-elected for a fourth term, securing 89.77 percent of the vote in Sunday’s presidential election, according to provisional results announced Monday by the Independent Electoral Commission.
The 83-year-old incumbent’s victory came in an election marked by historically low turnout and the exclusion of his main political rivals. Former Commerce Minister Jean-Louis Billon and former First Lady Simone Gbagbo trailed far behind, receiving 3 percent and 2.4 percent of the vote respectively.
Both Billon and Gbagbo conceded defeat, with Billon congratulating Ouattara on Sunday and Gbagbo following on Monday — a move seen as helping to ensure a peaceful outcome, unlike the post-election violence that followed the 2010 polls.
Observers said the vote was characterized by a weakened opposition after key figures such as former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Tidjane Thiam were disqualified from running. The disqualifications, coupled with voter apathy, contributed to a turnout of about 50 percent.
“There was no reason to vote. Everything was arranged for Ouattara to win,” said one voter in Abidjan.
Analysts say the result reinforces a regional pattern of “constitutional engineering” and democratic backsliding in West Africa.
While Ouattara is credited with steering Ivory Coast through a period of economic growth, his new term raises questions about succession in a country with a history of political instability. He has pledged to promote a new generation of leaders, though divisions within the ruling party have left no clear successor.