In April, Tidjane Thiam, leader of Côte d'Ivoire’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), was removed from the electoral list following a court decision questioning his Ivorian nationality at the time of his registration. Former President Laurent Gbagbo, his ex-ally Charles Blé Goudé, and former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro currently in exile have also been excluded from the list for years due to prior judicial convictions. None of these four figures will be eligible to run in the October 25 presidential election, or even to vote.

On Monday, during a press conference, Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, president of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), confirmed that no revision of the electoral list would be undertaken before the election. Opposition parties have long called for such a revision and the reinstatement of excluded candidates, but Coulibaly stated the process takes "on average six to seven months," making it unfeasible without “compromising the organization of the presidential election.”

He urged respect for judicial decisions to “resolve any disputes” and uphold the rule of law in Côte d’Ivoire.

Notably, during the last presidential election in October 2020, a revision of the list had been carried out in June of that year.

This year’s final electoral roll includes 8.7 million registered voters. Côte d'Ivoire, a country with a significant immigrant population, also has a very young demographic nearly half of its 30 million citizens are under 18.

Thiam Takes Case to the UN

On Tuesday evening, the PDCI announced that its leader Tidjane Thiam had filed a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

The party reiterated its call for the international community to engage in ensuring a fair, inclusive, transparent, and non-discriminatory presidential election in October 2025.

Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, former First Lady and declared presidential candidate, warned that "conditions are not in place for a peaceful and smooth election."

"The government must engage in dialogue with the opposition. We will not accept a forced process," she said.

The opposition has frequently denounced what it sees as the CEI’s lack of independence, a claim the institution refutes, stating that it is “not aligned with any political camp.”

Since April, both Thiam’s and Gbagbo’s parties have suspended their participation in CEI activities. Meanwhile, government authorities deny any political interference in the electoral process, asserting that all decisions stem from an independent judiciary.

President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has been in power since 2011, has not yet announced whether he will run for a fourth term. His party, the RHDP, is scheduled to hold a congress on June 21 and 22, where they are expected to urge him to run.