Four Ivory Coast opposition figures barred from October presidential vote
Tidjane Thiam, the leader of Ivory Coast's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), was struck from the voter roll in April after a court ruling cast doubt on his Ivorian nationality at the time of registration.
FILE: Tidjane Thiam (C), the president of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), greets his supporters upon his arrival for a mobilisation meeting for the presidential election of October 2025, in Yopougon, a popular commune in Abidjan on 15 February 2025. Picture: Sia KAMBOU/AFP
ABIDJAN - Four prominent opposition figures in Ivory Coast have been excluded from the final voter list and are ineligible to contest the October presidential election, the electoral commission announced Wednesday.
Tidjane Thiam, the leader of Ivory Coast's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), was struck from the voter roll in April after a court ruling cast doubt on his Ivorian nationality at the time of registration.
Thiam has "appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee," the PDCI said in a statement.
Former president Laurent Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and and exiled former prime minister Guillaume Soro have been barred for years over past convictions and were not reinstated.
None of the four will be allowed to contest the presidential race or vote.
Electoral commission head Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly said Monday the voter list would not be revised before the 25 October election.