The two main challengers to Ivory Coast’s President Alassana Ouattara in this month’s presidential election have said they are boycotting the poll.
Former president, Henri Konan Bédié, and the former prime minister, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, made the declaration on Thursday.
They have also asked their supporters to disrupt the electoral process which they claim amounts to electoral coup.
Political parties on Thursday started campaigning officially for the presidential election on October 31.
A former president, Laurent Gbagbo and a former prime minister, Guillaume Soro have all been barred from contesting in the election.
President Alassane Ouattara is seeking a third term in office, a decision that has sparked protests and agitations.
Opposition parties have called for civil disobedience to protest against President Ouattara. They say the third term bid is illegal.
The 76-year-old who has been in office since 2011 said he wanted the new generation to take over.
But the man he picked to run on the ticket of the ruling party, Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly suddenly died in August.
Coulibaly’s death forced Ouattara to renege on his promise not to seek a third term in office.
Electoral violence in 2010 when President Ouattara first took office led to 3,000 deaths, displacing half a million people.
Ivory Coast: Campaigning for Oct. 31 presidential race begins
Source: Africafeeds.com
