Ivory Coast President Ouattara to stand for a fourth term in office

Three months before Ivory Coast’s presidential election, long-standing leader Alassane Ouattara has announced he will be standing for a fourth term in office, ending months of speculation.

"I am a candidate because I want our beloved Côte d'Ivoire to continue to remain a prosperous country, in peace and security," he said in a televised address on Tuesday.

The 83-year-old president said both his health and the country’s Constitution allows him to serve another term.

Ouattara, who has been president since 2011, said the country was facing “unprecedented security, economic, and monetary challenges.

“Indeed, the terrorist threat is growing in the sub-region and economic uncertainties at the international level constitute a risk for our country,” he said.

He added that he believed the management of this situation required someone with experience.

For months, Ouattara’s presidential majority has been calling for his candidacy at large demonstrations across the country.

When nominating him as its candidate, his Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party praised his record in office and described him as the sole guarantor of stability in the sub-region.

But the announcement of his candidature is likely to spark anger among the Ivorian opposition, which boycotted the previous election in protest against his third term, which it deemed unconstitutional.

In 2016, Ouattara reset the presidential term limit by changing the Constitution to allow himself to stand in the 2020 polls.

The president will likely face several opposition figures in the polls, assuming they obtain the necessary approval to stand.

Both Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) leader, Tidjane Thiam, and former President Laurent Gbagbo who leads the African People's Party of Ivory Coast (PPACI), are currently contesting their exclusion from the electoral list.

The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election.

The submission of candidacies closes at the end of August ahead of the first  round of the presidential poll on 25 October.