COTE D’IVOIRE 2020: No Plans To Place Age Limit On Presidential Candidates

Cote D’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday that planned revision of the constitution would not include an age limit for presidential candidates, seeking to dispel fears that his main rivals would be unable to contest an October election.

Ouattara and his opponents has raised fears of election-related violence in Cote D’Ivoire, francophone West Africa’s largest economy, where a disputed 2010 vote set off a civil war that killed 3,000 people. Earlier this month he intends to revise the constitution ahead of the election to make it “more coherent” but has not provided details.

He told Reuters he would make an announcement by July on whether he would seek re-election, fearing instability and a ‘lame duck’ presidency if he decides not to run and makes it known months in advance of an election.

Gbagbo was acquitted earlier this year of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court for his role in the war but remains in Europe pending an appeal by the prosecution.

Political tensions in Ivory Coast have risen since last month, when the public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for presidential candidate Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader whose forces swept Ouattara to power in 2011.
Soro, currently in Europe, denies charges that he plotted a coup against Ouattara and says they are politically motivated.

Addressing delegates at the London gathering, Ouattara said the process of adapting Ivory Coast’s electoral code to the new constitution should be completed by February.