Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara seeks reelection on Saturday, October 31, 2020, in a presidential vote that his opponents boycotted in protest over his bid to secure a contested third term.
At least 30 people were killed in pre-election clashes since August, stoking fears of a return to the violence that left 3,000 dead in a crisis a decade ago when then-president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down.
A former IMF official in power since 2010, Ouattara is facing off with veteran opposition leader Henri Konan Bedie in a bitter rivalry that has defined Ivorian politics for decades.
Ouattara’s decision to run angered Bedie and another opposition candidate, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who called for a boycott and civil disobedience over a third mandate they branded an illegal “electoral coup”.
On Saturday, after having cast his own vote, Ouattara called on the opposition to abandon their civil disobedience campaign and urged the country’s youth not to let themselves be manipulated.
Protesters had blocked the main route between Abidjan and the north of the country since early on Saturday near the central town of Djebonoua, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Abidjan, local residents said.
Groups of youths also set up makeshift barricades in some neighbourhoods in and around Daoukro, stronghold of opposition leader Bedie, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
“We got up very early to put up barricades to stop the election and respect the boycott,” said one youth Jean, standing at barricade of tree branches.
Electoral material had still not arrived and some Daoukro polling stations were closed. In Benanou, a village near Daoukro, a large tree trunk blocked a key road.
More than 35,000 police and security force officials have been mobilised to secure the election.
“The process has been tense,” said Patrick Allou, 32, waiting to vote in Abidjan’s Plateau district.
“Everyone has their opinion but you should express it democratically. No one needs to die in an election.”
Polls close at 1800 GMT, though it is not clear when the results will be released. Electoral authorities by law have up to five days to announce the results.
Source: Bangkok Post
