AFRICA/IVORY COAST – More than 8 million voters called to elect the President

Abidjan – More than 8.7 million voters in Ivory Coast are called to vote tomorrow, October 25, to elect a new president. A total of five candidates are running. Controversy has arisen over the exclusion of former President Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam , as well as the fourth candidacy of outgoing President Alassane Ouattara. The other four candidates are Jean-Louis Billon, former Minister of Trade, who is running as the candidate of a coalition of opposition parties, the Democratic Congress ; Ahoua Don Mello, a former ally of Gbagbo and his ex-wife, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, candidate of the Mouvement des Générations Capables , a party she founded; and Henriette Lagou Adjoua, another former ally of Gbagbo. The election campaign, which ended yesterday, October 23, was therefore marked by some tensions, although these did not lead to particularly serious violence, apart from the attack on the offices of the Independent Electoral Commission in Yamoussoukro on the night of October 20. The electoral commission found a new location within two days and assured that the election could take place on the scheduled date. In the run-up to the election, the Ivory Coast Bishops’ Conference also addressed issues of national interest in a series of public meetings, including “the ethno-religious dimension of the presidential elections, the economic model to be adopted to promote the country’s social and economic growth, the political and monetary sovereignty of Ivory Coast, and the “restoration of peace and brotherhood in a fragmented country.”

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