| Summary/Abstract |
In 2020, Côte d’Ivoire was supposed to turn an important page in its history. Ten years after the end of the war, peace and growth had returned to the country. On 5 March, in Yamoussoukro, Alassane Dramane Ouattara (popularly known as ADO) officially declared that he would not run for another term and would instead ‘make way for a new generation’.1 This decision seemed to cement prospects for post-conflict democratic consolidation at a time when many African countries, especially neighbouring Guinea, were facing serious tensions over the issue of third presidential terms. But the death on 8 July of Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the prime minister and Ouattara’s chosen successor, upended this scenario of generational change. Citing force majeure, Ouattara reneged on his commitment and joined the electoral fray. On 3 November, the Electoral Commission announced his re-election for a third term with 94.27 percent of the vote, a victory confirmed by the Constitutional Council a few days later against a backdrop of widespread violence. In the meantime, opposition leaders, who had called for an ‘active boycott’ of the election and attempted to set up an alternative government, had been thrown into prison, placed under house arrest, or forced into exile. In total, 85 civilians had officially been killed and nearly 500 wounded in the election clashes,2 and more than 8,000 people had fled the country.3
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