• President Alassane Ouattara, 83, has submitted his bid for a fourth term in October’s vote.

• Opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo, still barred from the voter roll, was also put forward by his party.

• The Constitutional Council will decide on the validity of their candidacies before the final list is published.

President Alassane Ouattara formally submitted his candidacy for Côte d’Ivoire’s October presidential election on August 26 at the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). A day earlier, the African Peoples’ Party – Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) filed the candidacy of its leader, former president Laurent Gbagbo.

“I have just filed my application,” Ouattara told the Ivorian Press Agency, adding: “I did so in response to the call from my party, the RHDP, and to the call from many Ivorians who want us to continue, together, the path of peace, stability, and development that our country has known in recent years.”

Ouattara’s run for a fourth term has drawn sharp reactions. Opposition groups argue his candidacy is unconstitutional, while senior officials and members of the ruling RHDP insist it is lawful. In his July 29 declaration, Ouattara said, “The Constitution allows me to serve another term and my health permits it.”

Gbagbo, however, remains officially struck from the voter roll due to a 20-year prison sentence handed down in 2018 over the 2011 robbery of the BCEAO’s national office. Although pardoned in August 2022, the measure did not erase his conviction or restore his civic rights, leaving him legally ineligible. Despite this, the PPA-CI has put him forward as its sole candidate, ruling out alternatives.

The Constitutional Council must now rule on whether their candidacies are admissible before publishing the final list of contenders.

On Sunday, August 24, 2025, the PDCI-RDA also submitted the candidacy of its president, Tidjane Thiam, even though he too was excluded from the provisional voter list.