The leader of Côte d’Ivoire’s main opposition party suffered a blow to his presidential hopes on Thursday as the head of the electoral commission said it would not be updating the electoral roll, from which he has been barred, before October’s polls.
Tidjane Thiam cannot stand in the October 25 election against President Alassane Ouattara because he was struck off the electoral roll in April over a question of his nationality at the time of his registration.
Although he has since had his nationality restored, Thiam could stand in the election only if the electoral commission updates its electoral roll beforehand, which its president has now ruled out.
“It is impossible to update the electoral roll before the end of the year,” Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert said, claiming that there was not sufficient time to do so given the need to also organise legislative elections before December 31.
Several others barred
He proposed a date of December 27 for those.
