Ivory Coast’s former First Lady Simone Gbagbo, 76, is the surprise inclusion in a list of five candidates who have been officially cleared to contest next month’s presidential election.
She will run against President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who took power after she and her former husband, Laurent Gbagbo, were captured in a presidential bunker during the conflict that hit the country after the 2010 election.
But the ex-president has been barred from contesting the poll, along with ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan and ex-Credit Suisse bank CEO Tidjane Thiam.
Their disqualification has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the 25 October vote and has sparked fears of instability.
Thiam, who was disqualified by the Constitutional Council due to his previous French citizenship, called the decision “an act of democratic vandalism” and accused the Ouattara administration of orchestrating a “sham election” to cling to power.
Ouattara assumed the presidency in 2011, following Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest after his refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 election. Ouattara was originally restricted to serving two terms, but a 2016 constitutional overhaul allowed him to seek re-election in 2020, in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
He won that election in a landslide, with at least 85 people killed in ensuing unrest. He later declared that he would run for a fourth term.
Laurent Gbagbo has been barred by the Constitutional Council from running for president because of a 2018 criminal conviction. He was sentenced in absentia for looting the central bank during the political crisis that hit Ivory Coast after the 2010 election.
Although he received a presidential pardon in 2020, it did not restore his right to vote or run for office. He also faced separate charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), but he was acquitted.
For Simone Gbagbo, her candidacy is not only politically significant but symbolically powerful in a country where women remain largely underrepresented in national leadership. Only 30% of Ivorian parliamentarians are women, and few have held senior roles in government.
Once nicknamed “The Iron Lady”, Simone Gbagbo is now poised to become the strongest female contender for the presidency in Ivory Coast’s history.
She and ex-minister Henriette Lagou Adjoua, representing the Political Partners for Peace coalition, are the two women whose candidacy was approved by the Constitutional Council.
Simone Gbagbo has had a long and active career in Ivorian politics, including as an MP – which was later overshadowed by her role in the violence that followed the 2010 elections in which more than 3,000 people died. It led to her being sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2015 by a court in Ivory Coast.
She was however granted amnesty three years later by President Ouattara to foster reconciliation. Unlike her former husband, the conviction did not lead to her removal from the voter register.
The ICC had also pursued charges against her in 2012, but they were dropped about nine years later.
Since then, she has been quietly and methodically rebuilding her political base, following her break from the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) – the party she co-founded with her former husband, ex-President Gbagbo.
Her campaign slogan is a call to “build a new nation” within “a sovereign, dignified, and prosperous Africa.”
“Her approval legitimises the idea that Ivorian women can aspire to the highest office, regardless of their past, age, or gender. She’s not just a candidate – she’s a symbol,” said local political analyst Severin Yao Kouamés.
It is unclear if Laurent Gbagbo, now disqualified from the election, will support his ex-wife.
The two were married for more than 30 years, sharing a life of political militancy, imprisonment, and governance. They divorced in 2023. The official election campaign begins on 10 October.
The country has 8.7 million registered voters and there are fears that the exclusion of some of the other candidates could erode public trust and trigger renewed unrest.
Still all eyes will be on whether Simone Gbagbo can reshape the leadership narrative, and become the president.
BBC