Ivory Coast Opposition Leader Resigns Party Post After Presidential Ban

Ivory Coast’s leading opposition figure, Tidjane Thiam, has announced his resignation as head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast–African Democratic Rally (PDCI) after being barred from running in the upcoming presidential election, but vowed to continue leading the party’s campaign from outside the formal leadership, Al Jazeera reports.

“In the interest of the party, I’ve decided to place my mandate as president of the party in your hands, the activists,” Thiam said in a speech released on social media on Monday. “This decision does not change the commitment I made in December 2023 to personally lead our party to victory in October 2025.”

Thiam, 62, had been seen as a major challenger to incumbent President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has not yet confirmed whether he will seek another term but has signaled his willingness to remain in office. Ouattara has ruled the West African nation since 2011.

Thiam’s candidacy has been beset by legal challenges, particularly around his nationality. While born in Ivory Coast, Thiam obtained French citizenship in 1987 and only renounced it this past March to comply with electoral rules banning dual nationals from running for president. Nonetheless, an Ivorian court last month ruled that he had forfeited Ivorian nationality when he became a French citizen and struck him from the electoral list.

He also faces a legal challenge to his election as party leader, after a PDCI member contested his eligibility on the same nationality grounds. Following his resignation, PDCI deputy president Ernest N’Koumo Mobio assumed interim leadership and called for “cohesion, serenity and discipline” as he convened an urgent party meeting Monday in response to what he called the “political situation.”

In his speech, Thiam decried what he called a systematic effort to eliminate the main opposition forces from the election. “

While we had the right to hope for inclusive, transparent and peaceful elections, it is clear that the unjustified removal of the PDCI candidate is part of the logic of eliminating the leaders of the main opposition parties to ensure tailor-made elections and a certain victory,” he said.

Thiam is not alone in being excluded. Three other opposition figures, including former President Laurent Gbagbo, have also been barred from the race, some due to past court convictions.

Ivorian authorities, however, reject accusations of political interference, maintaining that electoral decisions are taken by an independent judiciary.