\n Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday he would not run in October's election, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek a third term.\n<\/p>\n
\n October's presidential election looms as a major challenge for the West African country after its 2010 vote ended in violence between political rivals that killed 3,000 people.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I would like to solemnly announce that I will not be a candidate in the October 31, 2020 presidential election and I will transfer power to the younger generation,\" Ouattara said in a speech to Congress.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ouattara, first elected in 2010 and then re-elected in 2015, had kept Ivorians guessing over his political future, saying last year that he could run again if his traditional rivals were candidates.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ouattara in 2011 ousted the then-president, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to step down after losing elections in a standoff that triggered violent street clashes.\n<\/p>\n
\n The constitution allows only two presidential terms, but Ouattara, 78, had claimed he would be able to stand due to a constitutional change in 2016 -- a claim vehemently denied by the country's opposition.\n<\/p>\n
\n In January he announced unspecified \"modifications\" to the constitution, leading to two months of rumours of a possible power grab, or a presidential age restriction in a theorised bid to sideline opposition leaders.\n<\/p>\n
\n However the constitutional revision revealed Thursday detailed only minor legal adjustments.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'I gave my best' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Ouattara's announcement to Congress, which followed a 30-minute state of the nation address, was met with thunderous applause from lawmakers as well hundreds of students invited to attend the speech.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Thank you! Thank you!\" the students chanted.\n<\/p>\n
\n In his speech, Ouattara sought to project the image of a steady hand during turbulent times who helped make Ivory Coast the top economic performer in West Africa.\n<\/p>\n
\n The US-trained economist, known as \"Ado\" after his initials, said he inherited a country \"in tatters\" and \"brought peace and security\".\n<\/p>\n
\n He said that 80 percent of the population now has drinking water, compared to 55 percent when he took office in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I certainly did not succeed in everything, but the results are there... I gave my best,\" he said, also pointing to the many roads, bridges, schools and hospitals built during his tenure.\n<\/p>\n
\n Post-graduate student Daouda Bakayoko said he is \"happy that (Ouattara) is giving way to the younger generation\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He is a man of his word. I am proud of my president even if I am not one of his supporters,\" Bakayoko said in the capital Yamoussoukro.\n<\/p>\n
\n The opposition also welcomed the president's announcement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is a good decision which allows President Ouattara to end his political career with his head held high,\" said Pascal Affi Nguessan, who served as prime minister under Gbagbo.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since the death of founding president Houphouet Boigny in 1993, Ivory Coast's politics has been dominated three men: Henri Konan Bedie, who was president from 1993-1999, Gbagbo, president from 1993-1999, and Ouattara.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bedie, who will be 86 during the October election, has not ruled out running.\n<\/p>\n
\n After Ouattara's announcement, an MP from Bedie's Ivorian Democratic Party (PDCI), Veronique Aka, said the president had \"freed everyone\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"You have to know when to let go,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gbagbo will be 74 for the vote, but whether or not he will be able to run likely rests in the hands of the International Criminal Court.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was arrested in 2011 over the violence that followed his refusal to step down, but was cleared of crimes against humanity last year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Currently staying in Belgium under strict conditions ahead of a prosecution appeal, Gbagbo has requested his unconditional release but the court has yet to rule.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Echo across Africa' -\n<\/p>\n
\n The political climate has been tense in the run-up to this year's vote, following municipal and regional elections in 2018 that were marked by violence and fraud allegations.\n<\/p>\n
\n Former prime minister Guillaume Soro, a longtime Ouattara ally who has fallen out of favour, is currently the only person to have declared as a presidential candidate.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Soro has been accused of plotting an anti-government uprising -- a claim he denies -- and is living in France under threat of an arrest warrant at home.\n<\/p>\n
\n Deputy government spokesman Mamadou Toure said the president's decision was \"also a lesson for the entire Ivorian political class: you must know when to walk away\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is a message that will echo across the African continent.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday he would not run in October's election, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek a third term. October's presidential election looms as a major challenge for the West African country after its 2010 vote ended in violence between political rivals that killed 3,000 people. \"I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-43964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n