Gambiaj.com – (ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire) – The Constitutional Council of Ivory Coast has released the final list of candidates for the country’s October presidential election, significantly reshaping the political landscape after rejecting the bids of two prominent opposition figures, Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam.
Out of 60 applications submitted, only a handful were validated. The approved list includes incumbent President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a fourth term; Simone Ehivet, the former first lady and ex-wife of Laurent Gbagbo; Henriette Lagou, a former minister and candidate in 2015; Jean-Louis Billon, a former minister of Commerce backed by the Democratic Congress coalition of eight parties; and Ahoua Don Mello, a PPA-CI activist who entered as what he termed a “precautionary candidacy.” Notably, two women will be on the ballot in this election.
Announcing the decision, Chantal Camara, President of the Constitutional Council, stressed that many candidacies were rejected due to incompleteness or failure to meet basic requirements, such as the minimum age of 35.
Others fell short on the strict endorsement requirements, which mandate tens of thousands of validated sponsorships.
The most consequential exclusions were those of Laurent Gbagbo, former president and leader of the PPA-CI, and Tidjane Thiam, a prominent political newcomer.
Gbagbo was struck from the electoral roll in 2020 following a court conviction and also failed to provide the required 20,000 endorsements. Thiam, meanwhile, was ruled ineligible after being removed from the roll in June 2025 over questions about his nationality at the time of his enrollment. The Council rejected all appeals lodged by their legal teams.
With these rulings final, both the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) and the African Peoples’ Party–Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) are left without official candidates, having previously dismissed the possibility of alternative choices.
The only figures from within their ranks to have made it through—Jean-Louis Billon for the PDCI and Ahoua Don Mello for the PPA-CI—were swiftly disowned by their parties.
As in the controversial 2020 election, sponsorship technicalities also proved decisive. Former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan’s application was invalidated after the Council flagged nearly 20,000 missing endorsements, while independents Antoine Tiémoko Assalé and Vincent Toh Bi Irié faced similar disqualifications.
The Council’s decision leaves President Ouattara as the dominant contender in a field now deprived of the heavyweight opposition candidates many Ivorians had expected. The disqualification of Gbagbo and Thiam is likely to intensify political tensions ahead of what is shaping up to be another polarizing election.
