When Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, the chairman of Ivory Coast’s Independent Electoral Commission, took the stage in Abidjan late Monday afternoon, few were surprised by his announcement: Alassane Ouattara, the incumbent, had secured a fourth term as president. The 83-year-old leader, who has held the reins of the West African nation since 2011, won a staggering 89.8% of the votes in the October 25, 2025, election, according to provisional results reported by several outlets including DW and France 24. Yet behind the landslide numbers, the story of Ivory Coast’s election is far more complicated—and contentious—than a simple tally might suggest.
Ouattara’s latest victory means he will extend his tenure to nearly two decades, a feat made possible by a controversial interpretation of the country’s constitution. The Ivorian constitution, amended in 2016, officially limits presidents to two terms. However, Ouattara’s supporters have argued that the constitutional change effectively reset the clock, allowing him to run for a third term in 2020 and, now, a fourth. Critics, however, see this as a troubling example of constitutional manipulation, designed to entrench power and stifle democratic renewal.
While Ouattara’s economic stewardship has drawn international praise—Ivory Coast is the world’s top producer of cocoa beans and has posted annual growth rates near 7%—his political methods have come under increasing scrutiny. As France 24 notes, several prominent opposition figures, including former president Laurent Gbagbo and ex-banker Tidjane Thiam, were barred from standing in this election. Gbagbo, acquitted by the International Criminal Court but still facing a criminal conviction at home, and Thiam, disqualified over his French nationality, were both seen as credible challengers. Their exclusion left Ouattara’s path to victory all but unimpeded, with the remaining four candidates collectively securing only a tiny fraction of the vote.
“If we prevent others from fighting for power, it is no longer a democracy,” Gbagbo remarked pointedly to France 24. His words echo the concerns of many in the opposition, who argue that the election’s outcome was a foregone conclusion, achieved by systematically sidelining rivals and tightening control over the political process. The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA), led by Thiam, went so far as to call for a rerun of the election. “We call on him to resume the electoral process in a spirit of inclusion, fairness and peace,” urged Cherif Osman, a PDCI-RDA executive, in comments to DW.
Voter turnout was another telling indicator of the election’s legitimacy. Out of nearly nine million registered voters, only about 4.5 million cast ballots—a turnout rate of 50%, one of the lowest in the country’s history, according to DW. The north of the country, where Ouattara’s support is strongest, saw higher participation, while the south and west, traditionally more skeptical of his rule, registered notably lower engagement. Political analyst Nazaire Kadja told DW, “We’d like to point out that voter turnout for this election was mixed. High in the northern regions, very low in the south and west.” This uneven turnout, coupled with the absence of major opposition candidates, has fueled doubts about the depth of Ouattara’s mandate.
For many Ivorians, elections remain fraught with anxiety. The trauma of the 2010 presidential contest, which left over 3,000 dead in post-election violence, still lingers. Even the 2020 election, which saw Ouattara claim his third term, was marred by unrest that resulted in at least 85 deaths. This year’s campaign was not without tragedy: the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) recorded six deaths during the campaign and another four on election day, while opposition groups reported at least seven fatalities. The specter of political violence, and the memory of international military intervention in 2011 that eventually installed Ouattara after months of conflict, continue to cast a long shadow over the country’s democratic process.
Ouattara’s own journey to power has been shaped by Ivory Coast’s turbulent political history. Born in 1942 in Dimbokro, he built a distinguished career as an economist, rising to become deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund and governor of the Central Bank of West African States. His technocratic credentials won him the post of prime minister in 1990, but his presidential ambitions were long thwarted by the xenophobic “ivoirité” policy, which questioned his nationality and ultimately barred him from running in 2000. That exclusion, and the ethnic and regional tensions it exacerbated, contributed to the outbreak of civil war and years of instability.
Once finally allowed to run in 2010, Ouattara’s victory was initially overturned by the Constitutional Council, which declared Gbagbo the winner. International condemnation and a violent standoff ensued, ending only with French-backed military intervention and Gbagbo’s arrest. Since then, Ouattara has presided over a period of rapid economic expansion, investing heavily in infrastructure and positioning Ivory Coast as a regional powerhouse. The country’s successful hosting of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, which saw the national team triumph and the event lauded as a logistical success, further burnished his credentials on the world stage.
Yet the political cost of this stability has been high. Protests are rarely authorized, and legal actions against opposition figures have become increasingly common. Although Ouattara pardoned Gbagbo upon his return from exile in 2021, the former president remains barred from seeking office. Meanwhile, public debt has climbed to nearly 60% of GDP, inequality persists, and critics argue that health and education remain underfunded. “What has just happened is not a real election and what we have witnessed is not a credit to our country,” Thiam declared in a statement, lamenting what he called the “trampling of elementary principles of democracy.”
For his part, Ouattara has defended his continued leadership as a matter of necessity, citing “unprecedented” security and economic challenges and promising that his new term will be “one of generational transition.” In a July statement, he explained, “I am a candidate because the constitution of our country authorises me to serve another term and my health allows it.” He has spoken of grooming successors, but so far has shown little sign of preparing to relinquish control.
As Ivory Coast looks ahead, the challenges of reconciliation and democratic renewal loom large. The divisions exposed by this election—between north and south, young and old, government and opposition—will not be easily bridged. The world will be watching to see whether Ouattara uses his extended mandate to foster a more inclusive politics, or whether the cycle of exclusion and unrest will continue to haunt the country’s future.
