Credit: ©ICC/CPI / Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo at International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Despite an Ivorian judicial  ruling  excluding  former President Laurent Gbagbo  from a list of candidates for the October 31 elections, supporters are filing his candidacy. Gbagbo has been living in Belgium after being acquitted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last year.  Gbagbo has applied for a passport so that he can return home to Ivory Coast ahead presidential elections. A pro-Gbagbo coalition called Together for Democracy and Sovereignty (EDS) said on Wednesday in a statement “it will submit president Laurent Gbagbo’s candidacy, in line with scheduled procedures”, AFP reported.  Political tensions in the west African nation have been growing ever since incumbent President Alassane Ouattara declared his candidacy for a third term earlier this month.   The decision outraged many opponents.  Four people were killed in violent confrontations following President Ouattara’s decision to run for a third term many condemn as “illegal” and against the nation’s constitution.  President Ouattara shocked the  country when he formally accepted the nomination of the ruling party to be its candidate in October’s election.  The constitution limits presidents to two terms.   If he succeeds in his bid, Ouattara’s rule could last a total of 20 years. 

 President Ouattara officially filed his candidacy on Monday for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

“I have said on many occasions that democracy means respecting the deadlines and procedures related to the preparation of elections. I am therefore pleased to have taken this step for the presidential election of October 31, 2020,” declared Alassane Ouattara.

Ce lundi 24 août 2020, j’ai procédé au dépôt de mon dossier de candidature à l’élection présidentielle du 31 octobre 2020, à la Commission Électorale Indépendante (CEI). pic.twitter.com/0SI4YDh24B

— Alassane Ouattara (@AOuattara_PRCI) August 24, 2020

Dans une interview exclusive accordée à France 24, l’ancien chef d’État trouve que le 3e mandat du Président Ouattara est anti-constitutionnel. “Ce serait illégal”, a clairement dit HKB.

Henri Konan Bédié  –  Candidate in Ivory Coast Election 2020 

Ouattara’s early rivals include former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan of the Ivorian Popular Front party, former president Henri Konan Bedie of the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast, and former foreign minister Marcel Amon-Tanoh.   Ivory Coast’s 86-year-old former president Henri Konan Bédié  declared his opposition party’s candidate for October’s tense presidential election. 

Many Accuse Ouattara of Betraying Promise to Step Down at End of Presidential Term

Five months ago, during an address before Parliament on March 5, Ouattara pledged to step down at the end of his term and promised to transfer power to a younger generation.   Ouattara then chose an  61-year old Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly as his successor to stand in the elections. However, Coulibaly died suddenly on July 8 opening a huge political vacuum. Ouattara would then go back on his word and declare himself a candidate for a third term. Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s largest cocoa producer and a major exporter of coffee and palm oil, with important deposits of petroleum, diamond, and natural gas.