Ouattara, 78 gets ruling party’s nod for presidential poll

Cote d’Ivoire’s ruling RDHP party has nominated President Alassane Ouattara, 78, as its candidate for the October 31st crucial presidential poll.

Official sources said Thursday 30 July the party took the decision at its just-ended national Convention and Ouattara has until August 6 to make up his mind.

Outtara is serving out his second five-year mandate and had promised to hand over to a younger generation until the sudden death this month of Prime Minister Gon Coulibaly, the RDHP’s anointed presidential flag bearer.

Should he decide to run, Ouattara would argue that his two mandates were under the old Constitution. The 2016 amended Constitution permits a presidential two-term tenure.

But the opposition has already rejected that line of argument, saying it would amount to a controversial third term mandate for the president Ouattara.

Meanwhile, President Ouattara has just appointed Hamed Bakayoko, a fellow northerner as new Prime Minister, to replace Mr Coulibaly, who died recently.

Hard times in the ECOWAS region with political tension and uncertainty in Cote d’Ivoire, leadership crisis in Mali, instability in Guinea, amidst a deadly global health pandemic!

Paul Ejime is an International Affairs Expert.

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