Opposition rejects ‘electoral coup’

The two main challengers to Ivory Coast's President Alassana Ouattara in this month's election has announced that they are boycotting the poll. At a joint news conference, the former head of state, Henri Konan Bédié, and ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan called on their supporters to block what they described as an electoral coup. Ouattara is standing for a third term on 31 October, which his opponents say is illegal. A report on the EWN site notes that many observers fear a crisis may be sparked by the election comparable to the one in 2010-2011 when 3 000 people died. ‘The electoral process under way does not concern us ... we ask our supporters for an active boycott through all legal means,’ N'Guessan said. The constitutional council has rejected 40 candidates, including ex-President Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, who both played key roles in the disputed poll. Gbagbo was freed conditionally by the International Criminal Court in The Hague after being cleared in January 2019 of crimes against humanity.