By Media Coulibaly and Robbie Corey-Boulet
ABIDJAN, Oct 25 (Reuters)
Ivory Coast is voting in a presidential election on Saturday with incumbent and strong favourite Alassane Ouattara, 83, claiming credit for nearly 15 years of economic growth and relative stability while hinting it will be his final campaign.
A former international banker and deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ouattara took power in 2011 after a four-month civil war that killed around 3,000 people.
The war was triggered by the refusal of his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge defeat in the 2010 election.
More than eight million people are registered to vote on Saturday. Polling stations close at 6 p.m. local time (1800 GMT). Provisional results are expected within five days. A runoff will be held if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.
SUCCESSION IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse, were deemed ineligible to run this year, and the remaining opposition candidates lack the backing of a major political party, making Ouattara the clear favourite.
Announcing his candidacy in July, Ouattara said a fourth term would be one of “generational transmission”. This week he acknowledged that “it’s not easy to work at the same pace” now that he is in his 80s.
Ivory Coast’s median age is 18.
As polling stations opened at 0800 GMT in the Adjame district of the commercial capital Abidjan, even Ouattara’s supporters said he should be nearing the end of his career.
“He has really changed the image of Ivory Coast, but this should be his last mandate. We need to pass the torch to the new generation,” said Souamane Cisse, a 44-year-old driver.
Schoolteacher Fatou Fofana, 48, also said it was time for younger leadership provided the transition is peaceful. There is no clear choice for a successor in the ruling party.
“It needs to come at the right time,” Fofana said. “We need security.”
Ouattara voted at a high school in Abidjan’s Cocody district, arriving with his wife and supporters who shouted that he would deliver a “knockout blow” in the first round.
In brief remarks, Ouattara told journalists that “peace has returned” and that the election was proceeding smoothly.
At polling stations in Abobo district, a Ouattara stronghold, long lines of voters formed, but turnout appeared lower elsewhere in the city.
Ouattara’s highest-profile challenger, former first lady Simone Gbagbo, cast her ballot in Cocody and told journalists she hoped turnout would improve during the day.
“I cannot speak of numbers but I can give you the trends, and the trends point to my victory,” she said, adding that she hoped the country would remain at peace.
YOUNG IVORIANS VOICE SCEPTICISM
The world’s biggest cocoa producer is among the fastest-growing economies in the region. Its international bonds are some of the best performing in Africa.
Ouattara has tried to diversify economic output, with mining a focus, as well as investment in schools and road infrastructure to attract more private investment.
Not everyone is impressed.
Alfred N’zi, 36, voting in the Abidjan suburb of Bingerville, told Reuters he has been unemployed since he lost his job at the port three years ago.
“I didn’t want to vote at first, but I came to vote for change. I want things to change,” he said, declining to specify which opposition candidate he would back.
Landry Ka, a 22-year-old student, said young Ivorians were “tired of seeing old people making decisions for us, the younger generation.”
Ka said he backed Simone Gbagbo, who is 76.
The youngest candidate in the race is former commerce minister Jean-Louis Billon, at 60. He failed to get the backing of the main opposition party PDCI, led by Thiam, who is 63.
“Many young Ivorians express deep scepticism toward the political elite, citing persistent unemployment, economic inequality, and a lack of meaningful representation,” said Chukwuemeka Eze, director of the Democratic Futures in Africa Program at Open Society Foundations.
HUNDREDS ARRESTED DURING CAMPAIGN
Though Ivory Coast has a history of election-related violence, this year’s campaign has been mostly calm, with scattered protests in locations including the political capital Yamoussoukro, where authorities imposed a curfew on Friday night.
The government has deployed 44,000 members of the security forces throughout the country and enforced what Amnesty International said was a disproportionate ban on protests.
Hundreds have been arrested, and the interior ministry said dozens had received prison terms of up to three years for offences including disturbing public order.
Government spokesperson Patrick Achi, a former prime minister, told Reuters that the government protected freedom of speech but was also determined to maintain order.
(Reporting by Media Coulibaly, Robbie Corey-Boulet, Ange Aboa And Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by William Maclean, Aidan Lewis and Barbara Lewis)
