Ivory Coast’s main opposition leader, who has been barred from standing in an October presidential vote, said Monday that he was resigning as party leader but would still lead the fight to win the election.
Tidjane Thiam’s campaign for the presidency of the west African country has been mired in tussles over his nationality.
A court in Abidjan struck him off the electoral list last month, saying the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987.
Thiam, who has not been in Ivory Coast for more than a month, also faces a legal case against his election as head of the Democratic Party (PDCI).
That case was brought by a party member who also contests Thiam’s Ivorian nationality at the time he was chosen.
“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 published on social media.
But the former banker made it clear his decision to step down did not mean he was withdrawing from the battle for the presidency.
“This decision does not change the commitment I made in December 2023 to personally lead our party to victory in October 2025,” he said.
“I know that after electing me in 2023, you will give me your trust again,” he added.
Presidential candidates are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Thiam was born in Ivory Coast and renounced his French passport in March to enable his run for the top job.
In removing him from the electoral list, the court based its ruling on article 48 of the nationality code, which dates back to the 1960s.
It states that acquiring another nationality means forgoing Ivorian citizenship.
– Urgent party meeting –
Following Thiam’s announcement, PDCI deputy president Ernest N’Koumo Mobio assumes the party’s interim leadership.
N’Koumo Mobio appealed for “cohesion, serenity and discipline” and called a party meeting early Monday due to “the urgency linked to the political situation”.
Three other opposition figures have also been excluded from the presidential race, including former president Laurent Gbagbo due to court convictions.
“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,” Thiam said Monday.
The authorities regularly reject claims of any political intervention in the electoral process, saying decisions are taken by an independent judiciary.
President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has been in power since 2011, has yet to say whether he plans to run again but has said he is eager to “continue serving my country”.
