Urge Ouatarra to stand down from his planned 3rd term bid – IMANI urges Akufo-Addo

Policy think tank, IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has urged ECOWAS Chairman, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to call on Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, to step down from his planned third term bid.

President Ouattara, 78 years, announced in August that he will seek another term after the sudden death of his handpicked successor, the previous month, created a leadership vacuum at the governing RDHP party.

The President’s decision has infuriated the opposition who says Ouattara is violating the constitution by seeking another term, with 33 days to the elections.

Ouattara has been in power for a decade, but the Ivorian constitutional council has cleared him and three other candidates to run, including 86-year-old former President Henri Konan Bedie.

In an analysis by IMANI Francophone, an extension of the IMANI Center for Policy and Education based in Ghana, the think tank said Ivory Coast’s precarious peace will be preserved when Ouattara steps down.

“I urge ECOWAS Chairman, Nana Addo to call on Ouattara to stand down from his planned third term bid in order to preserve the precarious peace,” said Franklin Cudjoe, IMANI President.

More than a dozen people have been killed in violent protests in recent weeks, sparking memories of the 2010-2011 civil war that broke out when Gbagbo refused to stand down after the electoral commission declared Ouattara the winner.

Opposition figures have called for a civil disobedience campaign and for the election to be postponed, but have stopped short of saying they will boycott the poll, while the RDHP has said the election will take place regardless of whether they participate.

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