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Key opposition figures are calling for mass protests to block what they describe as a “dictatorship.”
Opposition leaders in Côte d’Ivoire are demanding a “civil transition”, following Saturday’s presidential elections that their parties boycotted.
Pascal Affi N’Guessan and Henri Konan Bédié say it was illegal for President Alassane Ouattara to stand for a third term as he violated the rules on term limits.
But the president’s supporters dispute it, citing a constitutional change in 2016 that they say means his first term did not actually count.
The vote count is still in progress.
At least 16 people have died since riots broke out in August after President Ouattara said he would run again after the sudden death of his preferred successor.
At least two people were killed during Saturday’s vote.
Key opposition figures are urging mass protests to block what they describe as a “dictatorship.”
N’Guessan said on Sunday: “Opposition parties and political groups call for the start of a civil transition.”
“[We] take note of the end of the mandate of President Alassane Ouattara on October 31 and ask the international community to take note ”, he added, saying that a civil transition was needed to“ create the conditions for a fair, transparent and inclusive election ”.
Several polling stations were ransacked in opposition strongholds on Saturday and election materials were burned.
In the eastern city of Daoukro, protesters set up barricades. Meanwhile, tear gas was used to scare off protesters who gathered near where the president cast his vote in the main city, Abidjan.
At least two supervisors from the independent electoral group Indigo Côte d’Ivoire were targeted, the Washington Post reports. He quotes the group as saying that 21% of polling stations were closed during the day.
But the head of the electoral commission called Saturday’s riots “minimal”, saying that “they only affected 50 of the 22,381 polling stations.”
Some 35,000 security officers were deployed across the country to transport electoral materials and ensure security, the security minister said.
After voting in Abidjan on Saturday, Ouattara called for an end to the protests.
“I call on those who called for civil disobedience, which led to loss of life, to stop,” he said.
“They must stop because the Ivory Coast needs peace, they are criminal acts and we hope that all this will stop, so that after the elections this country continues on its path of progress, which it has enjoyed in recent years.”
Why is it so controversial?
According to the constitution, the Ivory Coast has a presidential limit of two terms. Mr. Ouattara, who has been elected twice, initially said he would retire.
But in July, the ruling party’s previous presidential candidate, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died of a heart attack.
Later, Ouattara announced that he would run for president after all.
His supporters argued that a constitutional change in 2016 reset the clock and that his first term did not count.
His opponents do not share that view and instead argue that it is illegal for Ouattara to run for a third term.
What is the background of the tension?
There has been a decades-long feud between some of the country’s leading political figures.
In 2010, Laurent Gbagbo, who was president at the time, refused to yield to Ouattara after that year’s elections. This sparked a bitter civil war.
More than 3,000 people died in the five months of violence.
Mr. Gbagbo also stood to stand in this year’s elections, but the electoral commission blocked him because he had been convicted in the courts of Ivory Coast.
He was one of nearly 40 potential candidates who were rejected by the commission.
Who are the four presidential candidates?
- Alassane Ouattara, 78, economist. He became president in 2011, serving his second term after years in opposition. Party: Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP)
- Henri Konan Bédié, 86, career politician. He held the presidency between 1993 and 1999, deposed by a coup. Party: Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PCDI)
- Pascal Affi N’Guessan, 67 years old, career politician. He served as prime minister between 2000 and 2003 under then-President Laurent Gbagbo. Party: faction of the Popular Front of the Ivory Coast (FPI)
- Kouadio Konan Bertin, 51, a career politician known as KKB, once a youth leader in the former ruling Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, is now a deputy. Independent candidate
