83-Yr-Old Ouattara Wins Fourth Term as Ivory Coast President

President Alassane Ouattara has secured a resounding victory in Ivory Coast’s presidential election.

This feat extends his stay in office for a fourth consecutive term.

Provisional figures released by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (CIE) on Monday show that the 83-year-old leader garnered about 89.8% of the votes, translating to roughly 3.75 million ballots cast in his favour.

Ouattara’s closest challenger, former trade minister Jean-Louis Billon, came a distant second with around three percent of the total votes.

Billon had earlier conceded defeat and congratulated the president on social media, citing the early results he had reviewed.

The other candidates on the ballot, including former first lady Simone Gbagbo, ex-ministers Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou Adjoua failed to make significant impact in the polls.

Prominent opposition figures such as former presidents Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam were barred from contesting, leaving Ouattara with little strong resistance.

Despite about 8.7 million registered voters, turnout was described as low, especially in parts of Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, where officials reported sparse activity at several polling units. Election authorities put overall participation at around 50%.

Observers noted that the low turnout contributed to one of Ivory Coast’s calmest elections in recent years. This marks a contrast with the deadly unrest that followed the 2010 and 2020 polls, in which hundreds were killed amid political tensions and disputes over Ouattara’s eligibility.

Security forces were deployed across key cities before and during voting, following sporadic unrest earlier in the month.

Dozens of protesters had been arrested in the build-up to the election, prompting human rights groups to voice concerns about restrictions on dissent and the exclusion of major opposition leaders.

Ouattara, who has been in power since 2011, is credited with driving economic growth and major infrastructural projects in the world’s leading cocoa-producing nation.

If the Constitutional Council confirms the results in the coming days, Ouattara will continue to lead the West African nation until 2030.