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Former Ivory Coast commerce minister Jean-Louis Billon has acknowledged defeat in the presidential race, conceding to incumbent Alassane Ouattara as early partial results give the long-time leader an advantage across the country.
“The initial results place the incumbent President, Mr Alassane Ouattara, in the lead, designating him the winner of this presidential election,” Billon announced in a statement on Sunday, offering his congratulations to Ouattara.
Billon was one of four opposition candidates challenging the 83-year-old incumbent, a former senior IMF official now pursuing a fourth term. His campaign was also weakened by the refusal of the powerful opposition PDCI, led by Tidjane Thiam, to back him. Thiam, the former Credit Suisse chief, was himself excluded from the ballot.
Earlier on Sunday, the Independent Electoral Commission began releasing provisional figures from Saturday’s vote live on state television.
“The results of 20 departments or divisions are being read out,” Al Jazeera correspondent Ahmed Idris reported from Abidjan, the country’s economic capital, noting that “10 or 11 departments remain”. Results also featured votes from Ivorians living abroad in six countries.
“This is the most critical stage of this election, where results from various polling booths and centres are being collated and announced,” Idris explained. He added: “From the initial results, it’s clear the incumbent is leading by a wide margin in many of the areas so far.”
Around nine million people were eligible to cast their ballots, though the opposition remained fractured, and two major figures were barred from running altogether.
“Ivorians are watching closely what happens here,” Idris said. “And the result of this election will determine whether or not the streets will remain calm.”
For now, calm appears to be holding in Abidjan, with Idris noting the city remained mostly quiet “apart from reports of scattered violence in other parts of the country that has led to two deaths”. He also described strong security presence, saying “at least 44,000 security personnel have been deployed for this election before, during, and after, in case trouble breaks out”.
Ouattara’s most prominent would-be challengers – ex-president Laurent Gbagbo and Thiam – were ruled out of the contest. Gbagbo was barred due to a criminal conviction, while Thiam was prevented from running because he acquired French citizenship. Their exclusion triggered demonstrations and renewed calls from some opposition voices to boycott the vote.
An official turnout figure has yet to be confirmed, though the electoral commission’s president, Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, earlier estimated it at “about 50 percent”.
According to AFP, there was sparse attendance at polling stations in Abidjan and in strongholds of the opposition in the south and west, while turnout was reportedly far stronger in the north, where Ouattara enjoys his largest base of support.
With his best-known rivals pushed aside, Ouattara entered the contest as the clear favourite. Saturday’s vote echoed the 2020 election, when he secured 94 percent of the vote on a turnout slightly above 50 percent after a major opposition boycott.
The four candidates against him this time did not command nationwide reach leaving the incumbent with a firm grip on the electoral landscape.
