The Ivorian Constitutional Council validated on Monday four candidacies, including that of outgoing President Alassane Ouattara for a controversial third term, and rejected those of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo and ex-rebel leader and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro for the October 31 presidential election. The Constitutional Council validated only four of the 44 presidential candidatures. The Constitutional Council did not follow the requests of several opponents who felt that Ouattara could not serve a third term, the constitution limiting the number of terms to two. The Constitutional Council ruled that the 2016 Constitution enshrines a new Republic and therefore resets the counters to zero and that the candidate cannot be blamed for running for a new term. The candidatures of Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro were declared inadmissible, as both were condemned by Ivorian courts.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 15, 2020 12:22 UTC