I.Coast's main opposition says will not boycott tense polls

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST - Ivory Coast's main opposition party said Thursday it had no plans to boycott next month's presidential election and still stood behind its candidate despite him being barred from running.

The constitutional council on Monday excluded former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam as well as ex-president Laurent Gbagbo from the October 25 ballot, in which President Alassane Ouattara is seeking a fourth term.

The council said its decision, which cannot be appealed, was due to the two men's removal from the electoral roll.

The political climate has been tense in the west African country for months, especially due to court rulings barring several opposition figures from contesting the election.

"There will be no boycott, that would be too easy. There can't be an election without Tidjane Thiam," Noel Akossi Bendjo, vice president of the historically dominant PDCI party, told reporters.

The party did not say how it planned to proceed.

Gbagbo's African Peoples' Party - Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) criticised in a document sent to AFP on Wednesday"a decision contrary to the constitution and the international commitments of Ivory Coast".

"The law cannot be twisted to eliminate a political opponent," the party said.

"There's no other alternative than Laurent Gbagbo, we are going to continue the peaceful fight against a fourth term," Sebastien Dano Djedje, the party's executive president, said earlier in the week.

Thiam was removed from the electoral register in April over nationality-related legal issues stemming from him acquiring French citizenship.

Gbagbo was excluded because of a criminal conviction.

The government insists the judiciary acts independently.

Ouattara will face off against former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello as well as former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and Henriette Lagou, who was a candidate in 2015.