Ouattara wins Ivory Coast poll amid boycott

ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara has won a controversial third term in office in an election boycotted by the opposition.

He took 94 percent of the vote, even winning 99 percent in some of his strongholds.

Turnout was put at almost 54 percent. The result has to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council.

On Monday, the Ivorian opposition said it was creating a transitional government which would organise a new election.

Main opposition candidates Pascal Affi N’Guessan and Henri Konan Bédié had urged their supporters not to vote.

They got one percent and two percent respectively, while a fourth candidate, Kouadio Konan Bertin, also got two percent, according to the official results.

Opposition figures say it was illegal for Ouattara to stand for a third term as it broke rules on term limits.

“Maintaining Ouattara as head of state is likely to lead to civil war,” M N’guessan said, adding that the opposition noted a vacancy of power.

But the president’s supporters dispute this, citing a constitutional change in 2016 which they say means his first term effectively did not count.

His party has warned the opposition against any “attempt to destabilise” the country, which is still recovering from a civil war sparked by a disputed election in 2010.

At least 16 people have been killed since riots broke out in August after President Ouattara said he would run again following the sudden death of his preferred successor. At least nine people were killed during Saturday’s vote, news agency AFP reports. – BBC.