Côte d'Ivoire: 8.7 Million Voters Called to Polls to Elect a New President

Beginning early this morning, these elections saw the deployment of 44,000 police officers and gendarmes to secure polling stations, as well as voters.

Overall, they proceeded calmly, without any incidents. Ivorians showed themselves motivated and determined to participate in these elections, pitting five candidates against each other, including outgoing president Alassane Ouatara, who has held this position since the fall of the Gbagbo regime.

At the heart of the presidential race are also key players from various political movements, who have radically displayed their positions in recent years regarding the governance established by Ouatara and his team.

An emblematic figure of the movement named: Mouvement des Générations Capables (MGC), Simone Ehivet, the ex-wife of former head of state Laurent Gbagbo, stands against Jean-Louis Billon, a dissident of the PDCI party.

Known for his stances, the sovereignist Ahoua Don Mello and the centrist Henriette Lagou are among the candidates who, in their own way, raised awareness and motivated a significant portion of the Ivorian electorate this Saturday.

In the presidential race in Côte d'Ivoire this Saturday, voters did not have the opportunity to support the two most notable figures of the Ivorian political opposition, namely Thidjiane Thiam and Laurent Gbagbo, whose candidacies were invalidated.

The decision to exclude these two potential candidates from the ballot provoked clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.

During the protest movements in favor of these excluded candidates, approximately 700 demonstrators were arrested. The Ivorian Ministry of Interior announced that 30 of them were sentenced to prison.

Several local and international organizations, particularly human rights defense bodies, supervised the conduct of the election.