Ivory Coast: President Ouattara wins election

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Photo: LEGNAN KOULA / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

It is a landslide victory for President Alassane Ouattara: The head of state of the Ivory Coast has won the presidential election in the West African country by an overwhelming majority, according to preliminary results.

The 78-year-old received 94.27 percent of the vote, the electoral commission announced.

Henri Konan Bédié and Pascal Affi N'Guessan, who were considered the strongest challengers, received only 1.66 percent and 0.99 percent of the vote.

The election was overshadowed by violence and tension.

On the day of the vote on Saturday, police said three people were killed, twelve according to the opposition.

In the run-up to the vote, Human Rights Watch said more than 20 people were killed by political or inter-ethnic violence.

Ouattara initially announced that he was not running for a third term in March, but then ran again after the surprising death of his designated successor.

The two most promising opponents were not allowed to run

The opposition had called for a boycott of the election because, in their view, the candidacy of Ouattara is unconstitutional.

The Ivory Coast Constitution allows two terms in office, but Ouattara argues that the new constitution he enforced in 2016 will put the clocks back and allow him two new terms.

The two most dangerous opponents, ex-President Laurent Gbagbo and the former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, were not allowed to compete.

The Ivory Coast, with around 25 million inhabitants, has seen political unrest time and again in the past.

In 2010, after the controversial presidential elections, a civil war broke out in which around 3,000 people are said to have fallen victim.

The country was a French colony until 1960 and still has close ties to France.

It is the world's largest exporter of cocoa.

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