Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara has won a fourth term, securing a crushing 89.77 percent in a vote which his two greatest rivals were barred from, the electoral commission said Monday.One of those barred rivals, the ex-international banking CEO Tidjane Thiam, slammed the polls, saying they were not a “true election” and calling on supporters to “peacefully win back democracy”.Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballot Saturday in the world’s top cocoa producer, which has resisted coups and jihadist attacks plaguing much of west Africa but which saw tensions soar and deadly violence in the run-up to the election.Even before the provisional results’ announcement, Ouattara was already anticipated to have swept the polls, after early tallies on Sunday showed him winning upwards of 90 percent of the vote. Turnout was close to 100 percent in his northern strongholds.The political veteran also did well in traditionally pro-opposition areas in the south and parts of the economic hub Abidjan, where polling stations had been almost empty on Saturday.Entrepreneur Jean-Louis Billon came second to the veteran leader with 3.09 percent, said the commission’s president, Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who announced a 50.1 percent turnout — a similar level to 2020, when Ouattara won 94 percent of the vote in an election boycotted by the main opponents.This time around, Ouattara’s leading rivals — ex-Credit Suisse chief executive Thiam and former president Laurent Gbagbo — were both barred from standing, Thiam for having acquired French nationality and Gbagbo for a criminal conviction.”Their absence, their calls not to participate in the election, and the climate of tension that deteriorated in recent days foretold a significant demobilisation of the electorate,” said William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).The opposition has rejected Ouattara’s legitimacy and called for new elections.Thiam said the election had “divided” the country, and urged against violence in a message after the results.”It’s never too late for dialogue,” he said.Another rival, former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo — who was on the ballot, taking 2.42 percent of the vote — criticised the turnout figure as “inexact”.- Turnout in focus -Political analyst Geoffroy Kouao believes “the turnout rate shows two things”.”First, Mr Ouattara’s supporters turned out in force, as shown by the Soviet-esque results in certain regions,” said Kouao.”And second, supporters of the (Gbagbo and Thiam’s parties) did not go to the polls.”Billon also expressed concern Sunday over “very low turnout in some regions”, while still offering congratulations to Ouattara.Billon and the other candidates on the ballot did not have a chance of reaching a second round due to a lack of support from a major party or significant financial resources.Earlier calls for protests by the main opposition led to deadly unrest in the run-up to the election, with at least eight people killed this month and nearly two dozen reported injured in election-day clashes at around 200 polling stations.The government had declared a nighttime curfew in some areas and deployed 44,000 security force members.Presidential elections in the country are commonly rife with tension and unrest.Ouattara first came to power following a presidential clash between him and Laurent Gbagbo in 2010 and 2011, which cost more than 3,000 lives among their supporters.On Monday, Abidjan returned to near-normal activity after the capital was unusually deserted at the weekend.”The Ivorians said NO to prophets of doom,” headlined the Patriote, a pro-Ouattara newspaper, praising “a calm election”.The opposition daily Notre Voie, however, pointed to “an election reflecting a divided country”.
