The country is awaiting the results of the final presidential election, in which 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara could be sworn in for a fourth term.
Ivory Coast’s former Minister of Commerce, Jean-Louis Biron, has conceded defeat to incumbent Alassane Ouattara in the country’s presidential election, with early partial results showing Alassane Ouattara with a significant lead nationally.
Biron congratulated the president on Sunday, saying in a statement: “Initial results show incumbent President Alassane Ouattara in the lead, and he has been declared the winner of this presidential election.”
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Biron was one of four opposition candidates running against Ouattara, 83, a former director of the International Monetary Fund, who is seeking a fourth term in office.
Biron was unable to win support from the opposition PDCI party, led by former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam, who was excluded from the vote.
Earlier in the day, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission began announcing partial results of Saturday’s poll on state television.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris said Sunday in a report from the economic capital Abidjan that “results in 20 divisions or divisions have been read out”, with 10 to 11 remaining. This included diaspora votes from six countries.
“This is the most important stage of this election, where the results from various polling stations and centers will be tabulated and announced,” Idris said.
“From the initial results, it is clear that incumbents are leading by large margins in many areas so far.”
Nearly nine million Ivorians were eligible to vote in the election, which was further hampered by the opposition’s failure to field two strong candidates.
“Ivorians are watching closely to see what happens here,” Idriss said. “And the outcome of this election will determine whether there will be calm on the streets.”
Idris reported that the streets of Abidjan were quiet and calm on Sunday, “aside from reports of sporadic violent incidents in other parts of the country that left two people dead.”
“Security patrols are being carried out everywhere, and at least 44,000 security personnel have been deployed before, during and after the elections in case of any trouble,” he added.
Mr Ouattara’s leading rival, former president Laurent Gbagbo, and Mr Thiam were barred from running for office after Mr Gbagbo was convicted and Mr Thiam became a French citizen.
This sparked pre-election protests and calls from some quarters to boycott the vote.
Official turnout figures have not yet been released, but Electoral Commission President Ibrahime Coulibaly-Quibiere earlier said the figure was around 50 percent.
Polling stations in Abidjan and the southern and western regions, which have historically supported rebel groups, were nearly empty, AFP news agency reported. Meanwhile, it was announced that voters had turned out in large numbers in the north, where Ouattara had gained most of his support.
With major candidates withdrawing from the race, Ouattara became the overwhelming favorite.
Saturday’s vote was reminiscent of the previous election in 2020, when the country won 94 percent of the vote with just over 50 percent turnout in an election boycotted by the main opposition party at the time.
None of the four candidates who faced Ouattara were representatives of major political parties, nor was the influence of the ruling party, the Who Fetist Assembly for Democracy and Peace.
