By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Constitutional Court has cleared Ivory Coast’s former First Lady Simone Gbagbo to contest in the October presidential election, a surprise inclusion that adds her to the list of five candidates who have officially received the nod to be in the race.
Simone, 76 will not slug it out with President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who took power after she and her former husband, Laurent Gbagbo, were forced out of power after the 2010 post-election conflict.
Simone Gbagbo’s candidacy is seen as politically significant in the African country where women remain largely underrepresented in national leadership.
She and ex-minister Henriette Lagou Adjoua, representing the Political Partners for Peace coalition, are the two women whose candidacy was approved by the Constitutional Council.
Her ex-husband, Laurent Gbagbo has been barred from contesting the poll, along with ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan and ex-Credit Suisse bank CEO Tidjane Thiam.
Their disqualification has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the next month election and has sparked fears of instability.
Thiam, who was disqualified by the Constitutional Council due to his previous citizenship of France described the decision as “an act of democratic vandalism” and accused the Ouattara administration of orchestrating a “sham election” to cling to power.
Ouattara assumed the presidency in 2011, following Gbagbo’s arrest after his refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 election.
He was originally restricted to serving two terms, but a 2016 constitutional overhaul allowed him to seek re-election in 2020, in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
Gbagbo has been barred by the Constitutional Council from running for president because of a 2018 criminal conviction.
He was sentenced in absentia for looting the central bank during the political crisis that hit Ivory Coast after the 2010 election.
It is unclear if Laurent Gbagbo, now disqualified from the election, will support his ex-wife.
The two were married for more than 30 years, sharing a life of political militancy, imprisonment, and governance. They divorced in 2023.
