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Ouattara is seen before Ivorian Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) president Youssouf Bakayoko and other officials while registering his candidacy on Wednesday for the presidential election in Abidjan.
AFP/Abidjan
Ivory Coast’s presidential election will take place in a “peaceful climate”, President Alassane Ouattara said late on Thursday in Abidjan, ahead of October 25 polls seen to be crucial for stability after a decade of political and military crisis.
“I am committed to ensuring that these elections be free, open, transparent and democratic,” Ouattara said in a national address on the eve of celebrations set for Friday marking the 55th anniversary of independence from France. “I will respect this commitment.”
Ouattara, who registered his candidacy on Wednesday in a bid for a second term that he is widely expected to win, said that “all conditions are met” for fair elections “in a peaceful climate”.
“I asked the government to take all the necessary measures ... to ensure the safety of Ivorians,” he said.
He urged citizens to allow others to “express their choice”.
On Wednesday the government announced the election would be held on October 25.
Last month the country’s main opposition party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) picked party leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan as its candidate.
The final electoral list, including over 300,000 new electors, will include around 6.2mn voters, the government said in a statement.
The FPI was founded by Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian president from 2000 to 2011, who is currently awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity.
Gbagbo’s refusal to concede defeat to Ouattara after elections in 2010 sparked a five-month stand-off in which the UN estimates about 3,000 died.
October’s vote offers the hope of greater stability in a country where the atrocities of 2010-2011 are still fresh in people’s minds.
The selection of N’Guessan to run for the FPI comes amid a serious crisis in the party which threatens its unity.
One side backs N’Guessan as presidential candidate, but the other objects to this and wants the release of Gbagbo before agreeing to any elections.
Ouattara has promised that if he gains a fresh mandate in October he will not seek a third term.
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