By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An alliance of parties in Ivory Coast known as the Coalition for a Peaceful Alternation, comprising mainly of opposition, on Saturday called for political dialogue with the ruling party, Rally of the Republicans (RDR), ahead of the October presidential election.
The coalition condemned the disqualification of banker and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, and other candidates by the electoral body.
It also advised President Alassane Ouattara not to stand in the election to avoid a constitutional breach.
The coalition also criticised the Independent Electoral Commission, accusing it of bias and partisanship in the election scheduled for 25 October 2025.
Since taking power, Ouattara has served three presidential terms, and his potential candidacy for a fourth term has drawn fierce criticism from the opposition.
To allow the candidacy of all political leaders, the country’s former First Lady, Simone Gbagbo, asked President Alassane Ouattara “to take his pen to write an amnesty law that will erase everything”.
In Paris, Tidjane Thiam, president of the coalition and the PDCI, the main opposition party, projected a video on big screens. In the video, he said that “justice must not be instrumentalised”, calling for a reform of the electoral lists that will see him restored as a candidate before the election.
The country’s Coalition for a Peaceful Alternation was formed on 10 March 2025 to confront the presidential majority bloc.
It has as members a number of opposition leaders, including former political figures such as Pascal Affi N’Guessan, Charles Blé Goudé, and former First Lady Simone Gbagbo.
Alassane Ouattara, 83, became President of Côte d’Ivoire in May 2011 following the 2010 presidential election. The election was marked by a violent post-election crisis that pitted Ouattara’s supporters against those of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.
Ouattara’s supporters have argued that he is qualified to seek a fresh term, citing the new constitution passed in 2016.
In disqualifying Thiam, the court had ruled that the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987.
Under the country’s constitution, holders of dual citizenship are not allowed to run for president.
Thiam, who was born in Côte d’Ivoire, had renounced his French citizenship in March to enable him to run for the top job.
