I.Coast Opposition Called To Protest After Leader Barred From Election

Umer Jamshaid Published April 24, 2025 | 05:20 PM

Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2025) Supporters of Ivory Coast's main opposition party were called to protest outside courts on Thursday after their candidate was barred from running in the presidential election.

The government warned it would not permit any unrest and police blocked off access to the courts in Abidjan, the economic capital, and Bouake, the second largest city.

On Tuesday, the Abidjan court struck Tidjane Thiam off the electoral list -- a decision that cannot be appealed and rules him out of standing in the October 25 vote.

The court said Thiam, 62, had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987.

His Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) called on Wednesday for nationwide protests.

"There is no peace in Ivory Coast. There is a situation of tension. There is an anti-democratic situation. There is a denial of democracy," said Simon Doho, leader of the PDCI parliamentary party.

Election periods are often tense in Ivory Coast, where post-election violence in 2010-2011 left around 3,000 dead.

But the last decade has seen the richest country in sub-Saharan Africa and the world's top cocoa producer revert to being a haven of stability in a region marked by coups and militant attacks.