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Alassane Ouattara appears set to secure a fourth term as President of the Ivory Coast, with early official tallies pointing to a landslide victory.
The final results are expected to be announced on Monday afternoon.
The 83-year-old leader, who has guided the world’s top cocoa producer since 2011, showed commanding leads in his northern strongholds, with some areas reporting over 90% of the vote and nearly 100% turnout.
He was also ahead in traditionally opposition-leaning areas, despite polling stations being mostly empty in the economic hub, Abidjan, on Election Day.
The electoral process, however, faced scrutiny. Both of Ouattara’s major rivals—former president Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam—were barred from running due to criminal convictions and questions over nationality, respectively, leaving Ouattara as the overwhelming favourite.
Opposition figures, including Jean-Louis Billon, raised concerns about irregularities and the very low turnout in certain regions, suggesting the results might lack legitimacy despite the electoral commission putting overall turnout at around 50%.
The election period was marred by violence. Incidents were reported at 200 polling stations, and clashes in the south and west resulted in the deaths of a 13-year-old boy and a Burkinabe national on Saturday alone, with 22 others injured.
The government, which had deployed 44,000 security forces and imposed a night-time curfew in several areas, has since arrested and sentenced several dozen people for disturbing the peace.
