₦airaland Forum

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday he would not stand for re-election in October, ending speculation about his political future ahead of a vote seen as a crucial test of stability.

Ouattara had previously said he would run if two of his longtime political rivals were candidates, defying opponents who say the constitution does not give him the right to seek a third term.

But he declared in a speech before lawmakers that he would step down after 10 years in office.
"I have decided not to be candidate in the Oct. 31 presidential election and to transfer power to a new generation," Ouattara said, prompting applause, cheers and gasps from audience members in the capital Yamoussoukro.

The move leaves the presidential race wide open and could set off a succession battle within Ouattara's own coalition.

Ouattara was first elected president of Ivory Coast, the world's leading cocoa producer, in a 2010 election that sparked a brief civil war when his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede defeat. Around 3,000 people died in the violence.

Political tensions have been on the rise again in recent months after the government issued an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, a presidential candidate and former rebel leader. His forces swept Ouattara to power in 2011 but he has since fallen out with the president.

Ouattara's two main rivals, Gbagbo and another former president, Henri Konan Bedie, have not yet said whether they will be candidates in October.

Leaders from across the political spectrum welcomed Ouattara's announcement, which bucks a trend in which several African leaders have sought to circumvent constitutional term limits to stay in power



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHZrPs6i5mM

Man with working brain

Someone here will rather die for that position than step down for a younger, healthier and smarter person.
Very selfish and corrupt group of people we have over here.

great job

Unlike someone here who would still want to go again if not for constitution, well we don't even know his plans yet gan

Take a step back and re- think :
Should people praise a Christian who goes to church on Sundays ?
Should people praise a Muslim who does not drink alcohol ?
I mean come on ! The Constitution of Cote d' Ivoire says clearly no -one shall run for another presidential term after two presidential terms in office.
Let's remember this :
Since the 1990s even before that, many Ivorians gave their lives to enable the country to have a democratic constitution that limits the number of presidential terms to two.
In 2000 a constitution was agreed upon through a fair, transparent, and free referendum limiting the number of presidential terms to two.
But in 2002 that illegal immigrant from Upper Volta ( Now Burkina Faso ) popped up with his rebels , killing thousands of men, women and children with the help from France , the crooked ECOWAS and the crooked African Union.
They waged a war on Cote d' Ivoire for almost ten years ( September 2002 - April 2011) .In 2011 thanks to France' s heavy artillery and helicopter gunships they were able to kick out and arrest Gbagbo a democratically elected president of Cote d' Ivoire. All this with one goal in mind : putting Ouattara in power.
Gbagbo was sent to jail in the Hague in 2011.

In 2016 the Ouattara regime asked people to vote for another constitution .That constitution
still limits the number of presidential terms to two.


Last but not least
Gbagbo was acquitted a year ago because people found out that the guy was the victim of lies engineered by conniving politicians .
Despite Gbagbo' s acquital, Chile Eboe-Osuji the Nigerian judge now head of the international criminal court ordered him not to return to Cote d' Ivoire and remain under surveillance in Belgium.
If you remember that Eboe-Osuji was appointed to the to the International Criminal Court job after Emmanusl Macron' s visit to Nigeria , then you can easily connect the dots involving Gbagbo ' s fate .

panafrican:
Take a step back and re- think :
Should people praise a Christian who goes to church on Sundays ?
Should people praise a Muslim who does not drink alcohol ?
I mean come on ! The Constitution of Cote d' Ivoire says clearly no -one shall run for another presidential term after two presidential terms in office.
Let's remember this :
Since the 1990s even before that, many Ivorians gave their lives to enable the country to have a democratic constitution that limits the number of presidential terms to two.
In 2000 a constitution was agreed upon through a fair, transparent, and free referendum limiting the number of presidential terms to two.
But in 2002 that illegal immigrant from Upper Volta ( Now Burkina Faso ) popped up with his rebels , killing thousands of men, women and children with the help from France , the crooked ECOWAS and the crooked African Union.
They waged a war on Cote d' Ivoire for almost ten years ( September 2002 - April 2011) .In 2011 thanks to France' s heavy artillery and helicopter gunships they were able to kick out and arrest Gbagbo a democratically elected president of Cote d' Ivoire. All this with one goal in mind : putting Ouattara in power.
Gbagbo was sent to jail in the Hague in 2011.

In 2016 the Ouattara regime asked people to vote for another constitution .That constitution
still limits the number of presidential terms to two.


Last but not least
Gbagbo was acquitted a year ago because people found out that the guy was the victim of lies engineered by conniving politicians .
Despite Gbagbo' s acquital, Chile Eboe-Osuji the Nigerian judge now head of the international criminal court ordered him not to return to Cote d' Ivoire and remain under surveillance in Belgium.
If you remember that Eboe-Osuji was appointed to the to the International Criminal Court job after Emmanusl Macron' s visit to Nigeria , then you can easily connect the dots involving Gbagbo ' s fate .

Gbagbo really messed up. He lost the election he contested in, so he should have handed over power peacefully.

BabaOwen:
Gbagbo really messed up. He lost the election he contested in, so he should have handed over power peacefully.

Why did Obama's ambassador and Sarkozy ' s ambassador sent French troops to kidnap the electoral commission president and keep him under arrest in the same hotel where Ouattara' s party had its headquarter .This was hours before the polls close.
From there he gave the partial and rigged election results based on which French troops launched a military assault on the people of Cote d' Ivoire.

They even refused a recount and chose to declare a war on a sovereign nation to further their
agenda.