Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam's parties form a united opposition front

The two opposition parties excluded from the forthcoming presidential election in Ivory Coast have formed an alliance demanding to be allowed to participate in the polls.

The alliance aims to demand that its leaders, Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, be allowed to run in the next presidential election and that other opposition candidates be removed from the electoral lists. It mainly pits the PPA-CI and PDCI parties.

The creation of this opposition front comes in a tense political climate, marked by the exclusion of several prominent political figures. These exclusions, decided by the courts, have not eased tensions. 

On the contrary, they have rekindled attention on the Ivorian political scene. Laurent Gbagbo even launched an "Enough is Enough" movement to oppose a possible fourth term for current President Alassane Ouattara in the October 2025 presidential election.

Faced with these movements, the ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party downplays the opposition's demands, calling them attempts to delay the electoral process. The RHDP insists that the exclusion decisions are purely judicial and not political.