Ivory Coast bars former president Laurent Gbagbo from presidential election

The council announced Monday, September 8, that both men were excluded from the October 25 vote after being removed from the electoral register.

Gbagbo, who heads the African Peoples’ Party–Ivory Coast (PPA-CI), was deemed ineligible because of a past criminal conviction. Thiam, leader of the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI) and former chief executive of Credit Suisse, was disqualified over nationality-related legal issues stemming from his acquisition of French citizenship earlier this year.

“The Constitutional Council has consistently required the status of elector as a condition of eligibility,” Council president Chantal Nanaba Camara said in a statement, declaring their candidacies “inadmissible.”

Both Gbagbo and Thiam had formally submitted bids to challenge President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a controversial fourth term at the age of 83. Their exclusion reshapes the contest just weeks before Ivorians head to the polls, narrowing the field to five approved candidates.

Those who remain in the race include former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, ex-ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello, and Henriette Lagou, who previously ran in the 2015 election.

The decision is expected to heighten political tensions in a country where past elections have been marred by unrest. With the two high-profile opposition leaders sidelined, Ouattara is now positioned as the overwhelming frontrunner in the October ballot.