President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term in Ivory Coast’s just-concluded election, with provisional results showing a landslide victory for the 83-year-old leader.
Announcing the results on Monday, the country’s Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) said Ouattara had secured 89.77 percent of the vote
cast.
His main contenders were Jean-Louis Billon, former commerce
minister, and Simone Gbagbo, former first lady.
Billon, who conceded defeat to Ouattara on Sunday, received
3.09 percent of the vote, while Gbagbo got 2.42 percent, according to Ibrahime
Coulibaly-Kuibiert, IEC president.
The former first lady has reportedly congratulated Ouattara
over the electoral victory.
Ouattara’s win did not come as a shock to many Ivorians
after the electoral commission disqualified major candidates, including former
President Laurent Gbagbo, who could pose a challenge to the incumbent’s bid.
A former deputy managing director of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), Ouattara has also been credited with overseeing an economy
that yielded years of steady growth.
In a statement, Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive
officer (CEO) of Credit Suisse, said the poll was “not a real election”, adding
that voting had unfolded in a climate of fear with weak participation.
Thiam was also a major candidate screened out of the race by
the IEC.
Ouattara had said this will be his final presidential
contest, as the victory extends his nearly 15-year rule, positioning him among
one of West Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
However, the Ivorian leader is nowhere close to Cameroon’s
Paul Biya, who earlier won his eighth consecutive term after spending 43 years
in office.
At 92, Biya is the world’s oldest president and Africa’s
second longest-serving leader, only after President Teodoro Nguema of
Equatorial Guinea.
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