Alassane Ouattara wins Ivory Coast presidential election, according to provisional results

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara, 83, has won a fourth term, securing 89.77 percent of votes in an election that his two greatest rivals were barred from, the electoral commission announced on Monday afternoon.

Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballots Saturday in the world’s top cocoa producer, which has resisted coups and jihadist attacks plaguing much of West Africa.

Entrepreneur Jean-Louis Billon came second to the veteran leader with 3.09 percent, said the election commission’s president, Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who announced a 50.1 percent turnout. Former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo received 2.42 percent. 

The sovereignist Ahoua Don Mello and the centrist Henriette Lagou bring up the rear, with respectively 1.97 percent and 1.15 percent of the votes.

Read moreIvory Coast heads to the polls for presidential elections

In some regions, such as Gagnoa, turnout barely reached 20 percent. Two factors explain the low turnout in these regions, according to observers: the tense political climate that prevailed during the campaign and the absence of two of Ouattara’s leading rivals – former president Laurent Gbagbo and Credit Suisse ex-CEO Tidjane Thiam. Both were barred from standing, Gbagbo for a criminal conviction and Thiam for having acquired French nationality.

“Their absence, their calls not to participate in the election, and the climate of tension that deteriorated in recent days foretold a significant demobilisation of the electorate,” said William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Presidential elections are commonly rife with tension and unrest. On Monday, Abidjan returned to near-normal activity after the capital was unusually deserted over the weekend.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)