Voters in Ivory Coast go to the polls today for a presidential election that is expected to extend the rule of Alassane Ouattara, the country’s longtime president.
Mr. Ouattara, 83, is accused of using his authority as president to have the electoral commission bar his main opponents as he seeks a fourth term. He has already spent 15 years in power, having carried out changes to the constitution in 2016, which reset term limits.
Voters in the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans now face a choice between renewal and continuity, observers say. Mr. Ouattara has been praised for delivering political stability and economic progress. But critics say he has unleashed a crackdown on dissent.
Ivory Coast has seen a major political and economic turnaround in the last decade. After emerging from civil war and a violent, post-election uprising in 2010, the country has avoided the large-scale unrest and insurgencies seen in neighboring countries in the Sahel.
“Ivorians want peace,” said Abou Bamba, an adviser to Mr. Ouattara. “We’re seeing what is happening in countries like Mali and Burkina. We don’t want that and we also don’t want to go back to war.”
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