Ivory Coast opposition call for election reform ahead of vote

The Ivory Coast's political opposition, an alliance of parties known as the Coalition for a Peaceful Alternation, called on Saturday for political dialogue with the ruling party, Rally of the Republicans (RDR), five months ahead of the presidential election.

Opposition leaders denounced President Alassane Ouattara's potential candidacy, as well as the exclusion of several political figures from the electoral list, including banker Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive officer (CEO) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. To allow the candidacy of all political leaders, the country's former First Lady, Simone Gbagbo asked President Alassane Ouattara “to take his pen to write an amnesty law that will erase everything”.

In Paris, Tidjane Thiam, president of the coalition and the PDCI, the main opposition party, projected a video onto big screens. In the video, he said that "justice must not be instrumentalized" and called for a revision of the electoral lists before the election.

The coalition strongly criticizes the Independent Electoral Commission, considering it biased. The presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire is scheduled for October 25, 2025. The Coalition for a Peaceful Alternation (known as CAP) in Ivory Coast was formed on March 10, 2025, to confront the presidential majority bloc. It brings together a number of opposition figures, including former political figures such as Pascal Affi N'Guessan, Charles Blé Goudé, and former First Lady Simone Gbagbo.

Alassane Ouattara became president of Côte d'Ivoire in May 2011 following the 2010 presidential election. That election was marked by a violent post-election crisis that pitted Ouattara's supporters against those of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.

Since taking power, Ouattara has served three presidential terms, and his potential candidacy for a fourth term has drawn fierce criticism from the opposition. However, his supporters argue that the new constitution, passed in 2016, resets the clock.