Accessibility links

Breaking News

Ivory Coast's Ouattara Wins Third Term in Vote Boycotted by Opposition


Ivory Coast's President of the Constitutional Council Mamadou Kone gives the final results of Ivory Coast's October 31 presidential election in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, November 9, 2020.
Ivory Coast's President of the Constitutional Council Mamadou Kone gives the final results of Ivory Coast's October 31 presidential election in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, November 9, 2020.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara won a third term with 94.27% of the vote, final results showed Monday, after an election that opposition parties largely boycotted and dismissed as illegal.

Main opposition figures are facing criminal charges after denouncing the October 31 vote and creating a rival government in protest.

Ouattara signaled Monday evening that he was open to dialogue with the opposition to enable calm to return to the world's top cocoa growing nation following violent protests before and after the election.

FILE - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara speaks to journalists after voting at a polling station during presidential elections in Abidjan, October 31, 2020.
FILE - Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara speaks to journalists after voting at a polling station during presidential elections in Abidjan, October 31, 2020.

"I would like to reaffirm my availability, today like yesterday, for a sincere and constructive dialogue with the opposition, while respecting the constitutional order," Ouattara said in a nationwide broadcast.

He invited former President Henri Konan Bedie for a meeting in the coming days. Bedie had sided with the opposition in boycotting the election and forming the parallel government.

Opposition groups said Ouattara violated the constitution, which limits presidents to two terms. Ouattara had maintained that the approval of a new constitution in 2016 allowed him to restart his mandate.

Clashes in the run-up to the vote and on election day killed around 35 people, officials said.

At a press conference Monday, constitutional council president Mamadou Kone officially announced Ouattara's victory, confirming last week's provisional results.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG