Côte d’Ivoire: Ouattara Cruises to 4th Term Victory in a Flawed Electoral Process

By Abubakar Hashim/Monrovia

Virtually all his electoral victories have been enmeshed in controversies. Yesterday’s presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire was the most flawed process since incumbent President Alassane Ouattara first came to power through another controversial election in November 2010.

President Ouattara’s Controversial Victories Since 2010

In the November 2010 presidential election, the head of the Constitutional Council, the body statutorily responsible for officially declaring results, Paul Yao N’dre, announced then-incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo as the winner. This led to a four-month civil war that left over 3,000 people dead, thousands displaced, and millions of dollars’ worth of property destroyed.

The result was later reversed, and Alassane Ouattara was sworn in as president by the same Paul Yao N’dre, head of the Constitutional Council, in May 2011.

Ouattara contested for a second term in 2015, facing little opposition. Former President Gbagbo was in exile in Belgium for a decade, and Ouattara won a second term.

His third-term victory was another controversy. Knowing fully well that he was not constitutionally qualified for another term, he picked his anointed successor, then Prime Minister Amadou Coulibaly, to contest. However, Coulibaly died mysteriously of a heart attack, fuelling suspicions of foul play. Ouattara then manipulated the constitutional clause on tenure limits and was allowed by the court to contest. He won a third-term victory in 2020.

His fourth-term bid is the most controversial yet. He sidelined virtually all opposition figures, including former President Gbagbo, but allowed Gbagbo’s wife, Simone, to contest — a strategic decision to appease the Gbagbo camp.

As counting continues, yesterday’s election appears to be a fait accompli. Ouattara, 83, is set to win a fourth term as president. All his victories have been marked by controversy.

The world’s leading cocoa producer and exporter, Côte d’Ivoire, now finds itself in a similar situation as Cameroon, where Paul Biya, 93, is also expected to be declared the winner tomorrow after 43 years in power.