Ivory Coast’s opposition leader Thiam is not included on the final electoral list

Former Credit Suisse CEO and Ivory Coast opposition leader Tidjane Thiam has been disqualified off the nation’s final list of presidential contenders, making him ineligible to run in an October election, a party official announced on Wednesday.

In April, Thiam told Reuters that he would not withdraw his presidential run even though a judge had ordered his name to be removed from the list because he was French at the time of registration.

The judgment of the election commission could potentially reignite tensions in a nation that emerged in the early 2000s from over ten years of civil conflict.

Nationality and electoral eligibility problems contributed to the conflict.

In December 2023, Thiam, then 62, was chosen leader of the PDCI, the major opposition party in the world’s largest cocoa-producing country.

“The Independent Electoral Commission’s decision to remove me from the electoral roll is a sad but telling example of Ivory Coast’s abandonment of democracy,” Thiam told Reuters in a statement.

Simon Doho, the president of the PDCI parliamentary group, declared, “We will fight, fight for democracy and peace in our country.”

Also declared ineligible for the October election were several well-known figures, including as former president Laurent Gbagbo and his close associate Charles Ble Goude, who were both cleared of accusations of crimes against humanity connected to the civil war.

Guillaume Soro, the former prime minister and rebel commander, was also jailed in absentia in 2021 for allegedly planning a coup against President Alassane Ouattara, his erstwhile partner.

Despite serving three terms, Ouattara has not indicated if he will run for office. The candidate for his ruling RHDP party will be chosen on June 21 and 22.

Mathias Chichportich, Thiam’s attorney, reported that his client had complained to the UN Human Rights Committee on Tuesday.

“This action seeks to compel the Ivorian state to take all necessary measures to ensure that the presidential election is held under fair, inclusive, and democratic conditions,” stated Chichportich.