Ivory Coast: Ouattara nominated as candidate by RHDP party

His party wants him to run, but the President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has decided to reserve his decision to seek a third mandate for now.

Without surprise, the president's RHDP party officially nominated him as a candidate during a convention in Abidjan on Wednesday.

In March, Ouattara, 76, said he would not run again, to give way to the next generation.

But everything changed with the death of his prime minister and hopeful successor Amadou Gon Coulibaly, of a cardiac arrest on 8 July.

Ouattara paid tribute to Gon Coulibaly as he thanked his party and asked for "a moment of remembrance and reflection" before confirming or declining his bid in the next weeks.

The Ivorian opposition strongly protests against a third term in office for Ouattara, who has been in power for ten years.

The poll is planned for 31  October.