2025 Presidential Election in Côte d’Ivoire: CEI Excludes Four Major Opposition Figures

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A decision that caused a political earthquake: Tidjane Thiam, Laurent Gbagbo, Charles Blé Goudé, and Guillaume Soro are definitively excluded, removed for judicial or administrative reasons.

Tidjane Thiam, president of the PDCI, had his Ivorian nationality questioned at the time of his registration. A judicial decision in April led to his removal. Laurent Gbagbo, the former president, Charles Blé Goudé, his former minister, and Guillaume Soro, former Prime Minister in exile, have all been removed for several years following judicial convictions.

The CEI confirms they will neither be able to run nor vote during the election.

The reaction from Thiam’s camp was swift. Tuesday evening, the PDCI announced that its leader had appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee, invoking a violation of civil rights. The party calls on the international community to ensure “a fair, inclusive, and non-discriminatory election.”

For her part, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, former First Lady and declared candidate, issued a straightforward warning: “We will not accept a forced process. The government must sit down and dialogue with the opposition.”

The CEI, through its president Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, explained on Monday that revising the electoral list is now impossible: a process that takes “6 to 7 months on average,” which would jeopardize the organization of the October 25 election.

In the face of criticism, the Commission insists: it is not beholden to any political camp. Yet, since April, the parties of Thiam and Gbagbo have suspended their participation in the CEI bodies, denouncing its lack of impartiality. The government, for its part, rejects any accusations of political interference, hiding behind judicial decisions.

With less than five months to the election, the atmosphere is heavy and explosive. The exclusion of the four historic opposition figures could drastically reshape the electoral landscape.

The big question remains: Will Alassane Ouattara, 83, be a candidate for a fourth term? The RHDP will hold a congress on June 21 and 22, and according to observers, all indications are that he will be nominated.

As calls for national dialogue intensify, Côte d’Ivoire is heading towards a tense presidential election, the outcome of which could redefine its political future for the long term. The absence of emblematic opposition figures is bound to revive memorial and institutional tensions.