The ruling party in Ivory Coast has expressed its support for President Alassane Ouattara to run for a fourth term in the upcoming 2025 elections, increasing the likelihood that the 82-year-old will seek re-election. While Ouattara, who was re-elected for a contested third term in 2020, has mentioned a desire to step down, he has also indicated that he would need former opponents to agree to withdraw from politics as well.
Recently, senior officials from Ouattara’s party, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), passed a resolution affirming their commitment to ensuring that the RHDP, under Ouattara’s leadership, becomes “the undisputed winner” of the next presidential election in 2025.
Three cabinet members who spoke anonymously noted that the party lacks a viable candidate besides Ouattara. One official revealed that the meeting was held to persuade Ouattara to run again. Another minister stated, “We’ve conveyed to him that our supporters want only him, and we are unified in this decision. He must accept and be our candidate for 2025.” A third minister added, “It’s up to him to make an official announcement whenever he chooses, but he knows we are already out campaigning for him.”
Since taking office in 2011, Ouattara has maintained a level of stability, though violent clashes during the 2020 elections resulted in numerous casualties. His predecessors and long-time rivals, Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bedie, claimed that his bid for a third term was unconstitutional. Although Ouattara stated in 2020 that he would not seek another term, his chosen successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died several months later.
Ouattara eventually ran again after being cleared by the Constitutional Court, despite a boycott from his opponents. He has argued that a new constitution ratified in 2016 reset his term limits in 2020, a claim disputed by opposition parties. Violence surrounding the 2020 election reportedly led to 85 deaths, according to officials.