Ivory Coast: municipal and regional elections on September 2

Regional and municipal elections in Côte d'Ivoire, a warm-up for the government and the opposition for the 2025 presidential election, will be held on September 2, government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly announced on Wednesday.

The date was set by decree on a proposal from the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), he said.

Eleven members of the government will be candidates for the regional elections, according to a list published by the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), the ruling party.

Prime Minister Patrick Achi will be a candidate for his own succession to the presidency of the Mé regional council (south-east), the region from which he originates.

Other candidate ministers include Téné Birahima Ouattara (Defence), Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani (Agriculture), Anne Ouloto (Public Service), Bruno Koné (Construction), Mamadou Touré (Youth), and Pierre Dimba (Health).

The President of the Senate, **Jeannot Ahoussou Kouadio,** and the former opponent Mabri Toikeusse, back in the ranks of the RHDP, are also presenting themselves.

The regional elections must make it possible to renew the 31 regional councils of Côte d'Ivoire. Five years ago, the RHDP won 18 against 6 for the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), the main opposition party.

These elections will make it possible to take stock of the political forces in Côte d'Ivoire before the 2025 presidential election. This will be the first ballot for the African Peoples' Party - Côte d'Ivoire (PPA-CI), created by former President Laurent Gbagbo shortly after his return to Abidjan in June 2021.