Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara will run for office for a third term in October’s presidential election.
Ouattara formally made the announcement on Thursday after accepting the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate.
“I have decided to respond favorably to the call of my fellow citizens and to be a candidate for the presidential election of October 31, 2020,” Ouattara said.
Ouattara, who has served as head of state since 2011, said in March that he will not run for office. However, following the unexpected death of the ruling RHDP party’s candidate Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly last month, the party requested Ouattara to rethink his position.
“In the face of this situation, I have decided to reconsider my position and to stand for the presidential election,” Ouattara said.
Ouattara’s critics and opponents were quick to fault his decision saying that his actions are in violation of the constitution which only allows a president to serve for two terms. The incumbent, however, fired back saying that his first two terms did not count under the new constitution which was adopted in 2016.
Ouattara is expected to face off against Pascal Affi N’Guessan of the FPI, the party of former president Laurent Gbagbo, and former president Henri Konan Bedie of the PDCI, one of Cote d’Ivoire’s biggest parties.
