Once again, the man who calls himself a guarantor of stability is in charge of the world\u2019s top cocoa producer, Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n
When Ivorians went to the polls on Saturday, few doubted the outcome. By Monday October 27, President Alassane Ouattara, 83, was declared winner of the elections.<\/p>\n
This will make him president for the fourth term after his current term which is expected to end in late 2025, extending his rule over Ivory Coast beyond fourteen years.<\/p>\n
He won 89.7% of the vote, Electoral Commission head Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly announced on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yet the question now dominating political and social conversations across the region is not about Ouattaras win but whether he will ever step aside after being in power since 2011.<\/p>\n
A \u201cGenerational Transition\u201d or a Political Myth?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ouattara has framed this term as one of \u201cgenerational transition,\u201d a pledge to guide Ivory Coast safely into a new era before passing leadership to younger figures in the ruling Rally of Houphou\u00ebtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP). However, critics say that commitment is wearing thin. The transition disappears into his next mandate.<\/p>\n In 2016, a new constitution reset presidential term limits, technically allowing Ouattara to run again. His allies justified the move as legal and stabilizing, but the opposition decried it as \u201cconstitutional manipulation\u201d, a political tactic that has become common across West Africa in recent years.<\/p>\n Divided Opposition, Concentrated Power<\/strong><\/p>\n The October 2025 vote was somewhat defined by who could not compete as much as who could. Former president Laurent Gbagbo and technocrat Tidjane Thiam were both barred from the race, the former because of a criminal conviction, the latter on citizenship grounds. With major challengers sidelined, turnout hovered near 50%, mirroring 2020\u2019s figure.<\/p>\n Civil society groups and social commentators, however, warn that continued political narrowing could deepen apathy among the country\u2019s youth, more than two\u2011thirds of whom are under 30.<\/p>\n Succession Within the RHDP<\/strong><\/p>\n Behind the public calm lies some tension, the looming struggle for succession within Ouattara\u2019s own party.<\/p>\n Political analysts say younger RHDP figures are eager to see renewal in a movement long dominated by Ouattara and his aging inner circle.<\/p>\n Local media reports that former Prime Minister Patrick Achi and Defence Minister T\u00e9n\u00e9 Birahima Ouattara, the president\u2019s younger brother, are whispered as possible successors.<\/p>\n However, any transition plan remains unclear. For now, Ouattara\u2019s circle shows no sign of preparing for life after him, reinforcing public skepticism that the \u201cfinal term\u201d will truly be final.<\/p>\n The Paradox of Stability<\/strong><\/p>\n Supporters credit Ouattara for transforming Ivory Coast\u2019s post\u2011war economy, overseeing growth near 6% annually and rebuilding infrastructure. His defenders argue that an experienced hand is essential to protect the country from instability like that ravaging neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n However, that same stability, critics warn, may come at the cost of democracy. The nation\u2019s future, and Ouattara\u2019s legacy, hinges on whether he can actually orchestrate a peaceful handover before fatigue turns into frustration by the youth in this party.<\/p>\n As some younger Ivorian social media users put it : \u201cHe says it\u2019s his last term. But we\u2019ve heard that line before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Ivorians went to the polls on Saturday, few doubted the outcome. By Monday October 27, President Alassane Ouattara, 83, was declared winner of the elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","source_name":"Africa News","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2362,35,27],"tags":[1121,407],"class_list":["post-18410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ana-politics","category-west-africa","tag-alassane-ouattara","tag-ivory-coast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}