Côte d’Ivoire: Ouattara Cleared For Fourth Term Bid As Top Opposition Rivals Blocked From 2025 Race

Côte d’Ivoire’s Constitutional Council has published the final list of candidates cleared to contest the country’s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for October 25, 2025.

Out of sixty applications submitted to the Electoral Commission, only five were accepted, with the most striking development being the disqualification of three of the nation’s most prominent opposition figures.

Among those barred from the race are: Laurent Gbagbo, former President; Tidjane Thiam, former Prime Minister and current leader of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) and Pascal Affi N’Guessan, President of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

The Constitutional Council cited legal and procedural reasons for each rejection:
Gbagbo was ruled ineligible due to a criminal conviction, making him constitutionally barred from seeking office. Thiam was excluded because he did not appear on the national electoral list, amid an ongoing dispute over his nationality. Affi N’Guessan failed to gather the required number of endorsements from elected officials, a prerequisite for candidacy validation.

The decision has stirred criticism from political opposition groups, who argue the exclusions severely weaken the democratic competitiveness of the upcoming election.

Incumbent President Alassane Ouattara was among the five candidates approved. His decision to seek a fourth term has already provoked widespread debate, with critics pointing to constitutional term limits and concerns over political stability.
Joining Ouattara on the final list of approved candidates are: Simone Éhivet Gbagbo, former First Lady and leader of the Movement of Capable Generations, Jean-Louis Billon of the Democratic Congress, Ahoua Don Mello, a former government spokesperson, and Henriette Lagou Adjoua, veteran politician and former minister.

The official campaign period will run from October 10 to October 23, giving candidates a narrow window to reach voters ahead of the vote. With the elimination of key opposition figures, the political landscape heading into the 2025 election appears increasingly unbalanced.

It will be recalled that thousands of opposition supporters gathered in Abidjan in May to demand electoral reforms and protest the exclusion of key opposition figures from the country’s upcoming presidential election. The rally, organised by the Coalition for Peaceful Change in Côte d’Ivoire (CAP-CI), marked the alliance’s first major public demonstration since its formation in March.

Also in August, demonstrators gathered in the Yopougon district, waving national flags and holding banners bearing slogans such as “Enough is enough!” and “No true democracy without true justice.”

The protests were sparked by the electoral commission’s decision to bar four prominent opposition figures, including former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, from running in the October 25 election.

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