2025 Presidential Election in Côte d’Ivoire: Ousmane Camara seizes the Constitutional Council on the nationality of Alassane Ouattara
The Ivorian political climate is heating up as the 2025 presidential election approaches. The president of the New Generation Alternative (ANG) and declared candidate for this due date, Dr. Ousmane Camara, has officially approached the Constitutional Council to denounce what he describes as a “persistent constitutional illegality” regarding the nationality of President Alassane Ouattara.
SUMMARY
During a press conference held in Abidjan, Dr. Camara stated that no public proof of renunciation of Burkinabe nationality has been provided by Alassane Ouattara since he acquired Ivorian nationality in 1985. He particularly relies on an IMF announcement from 1984, which mentions the Burkinabe nationality of the current head of state.
A request for “constitutional truth”
“All Ivorians are born free and equal in rights. What has been applied to Gbagbo (the rigor of the law) and to Tidjane Thiam (article 48) must also be applied to Ouattara. The law cannot be variable geometry,” insisted Ousmane Camara.
He assures not to be in a personal confrontation logic, but in a legal clarification approach and respect for the Constitution. “We are expecting the Constitutional Council to state the law, exclusively the law,” he declared.
The question of Alassane Ouattara’s nationality remains a sensitive issue in Ivorian political life, fueling tensions and controversies for several decades. In 1995 and 2000, this question was at the center of electoral debates, causing exclusions and major institutional crises.
This new challenge brings back to the table an unresolved debate on identity and eligibility criteria for the supreme magistracy in Côte d’Ivoire, a few months before an election already under close watch.
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