Ivory Coast: opposition candidates barred from electoral lists

Unless the decision is overturned, Ivorians will not be able to tick the box next to any of these names in October's presidential elections: Tijane Thiam, Laurent Gbagbo, Charles Blé Goudé and Guillaume Soro, all four candidates for opposition parties, have been barred from the electoral lists, which were published in their final version this week.

A party official from Tijane Thiam's Democratic Party confirmed the move by the Electoral Commission on Wednesday.

Tijane Thiam is the president of Ivory Coast's main opposition party and was already barred from the election in April following controversy over his French nationality, with the decision now becoming final.

The three other candidates' names - with Gbagbo being a former president and Soro a former prime minister, currently in exile - have not been on the list for several years already due to criminal convictions.

The four politicians are not only barred from running for office, but also from voting in the highly anticipated elections.

Thiam has announced that he would fight the decision by filing a complaint with the UN rights committee.

According to a spokesperson from the Independent Electoral Committee, no revision of the lists is however planned before the elections set for the end of October.