Ivory Coast has barred former President Laurent Gbagbo from running for the presidency in upcoming elections.
The electoral commission of the West African nation months ago ruled that it was excluding the former president from the elections.
It went ahead to remove his name from the electoral list and that decision has now been upheld by the courts.
Gbagbo’s name was removed from the electoral list according to the electoral commission because he was convicted of a crime.
According to the the president of the electoral commission, Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, anyone convicted of a crime would not be allowed to stand.
Mr. Gbagbo was sentenced in absentia in November 2019 for the “looting” of the Central Bank of West African States.
He was convicted of the crime following a disputed 2010 election that resulted in brief civil war.
Gbagbo’s lawyer Claude Mentenon told AFP news agency that there was no further legal recourse inside Ivory Coast.
Earlier this month it was announced that Laurent Gbagbo will not be running for President this year after his party named a new candidate.
The party picked his former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan as its candidate for the October presidential vote.
Gbagbo lives in Belgium after being acquitted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court last year.
Ever since Gbagbo was released from custody with reports that he might return from abroad, it has been speculated that he might run for president again.
The decision to pick another candidate according to reports might have been facilitated by the refusal of Ivorian authorities to issue him with travel documents.
Meanwhile Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara will isn’t giving in to agitations over his ambition to seek a third term in office.
He submitted his application to seek re-election despite days of protests by his opponents.
At least five people have died during clashes over the decision by President Ouattara to run for a third term.
The killings took place in the southern town of Divo where opposition supporters clashed with those of Mr. Ouattara.
President Ouattara, 76 who has been in office since 2011 had announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office, saying he wanted the new generation to take over.
But the man who was picked to run on the ticket of the ruling party, Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly suddenly died.
The opposition has said that Ouattara’s decision to run again violates the two-term limit in the constitution.
Ivory Coast’s Ouattara presses on for a third term amid protests
Source: Africafeeds.com
