President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term in Ivory Coast’s just-concluded election, with provisional results showing a landslide victory for the 83-year-old leader.
Announcing the results on Monday, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said Ouattara had secured 89.77 percent of the vote cast.
His main contenders were Jean-Louis Billon, former commerce minister, and Simone Gbagbo, former first lady.
Billon, who conceded defeat to Ouattara on Sunday, received 3.09 percent of the vote, while Gbagbo got 2.42 percent, according to Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, IEC president.
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The former first lady has reportedly congratulated Ouattara over the electoral victory.
Ouattara’s win did not come as a shock to many Ivorians after the electoral commission disqualified major candidates, including former President Laurent Gbagbo, who could pose a challenge to the incumbent’s bid.
A former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ouattara has also been credited with overseeing an economy that yielded years of steady growth.
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In a statement, Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive officer (CEO) of Credit Suisse, said the poll was “not a real election”, adding that voting had unfolded in a climate of fear with weak participation.
Thiam was also a major candidate screened out of the race by the IEC.
Ouattara had said this will be his final presidential contest, as the victory extends his nearly 15-year rule, positioning him among one of West Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
However, the Ivorian leader is nowhere close to Cameroon’s Paul Biya, who earlier won his eighth consecutive term after spending 43 years in office.
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At 92, Biya is the world’s oldest president and Africa’s second longest-serving leader, only after President Teodoro Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.
