D-2 before the presidential election in Ivory Coast. A vote that the opposition promises to prevent in order to block the candidacy of Alassane Ouattara for a third term. Since August, the climate has become significantly tense. Political violence has left more than thirty people dead in three months. The outgoing president has gathered all opposition to him. And the mediation has so far yielded nothing. In this context, if several families have chosen not to go to the polls, either by boycott or for fear of retaliation, others will actually go and vote for their candidate.
With our correspondents in Abidjan, Pierre Pinto, Sidy Yansané and François Hume-Ferkatadji
Those who vote: “It is in the ballot papers that the people decide”
This couple, installed in front of their television, in a building in the city of Yopougon, are determined to go and vote on Saturday. Out of civic duty, they insist. The newlyweds just hope the opposition party activists and sympathizers will not block them: “Where I vote, it is pro-Gbagbo. It’s in their stronghold, sort of. But I hope everything goes perfectly, ”she explains. Her husband adds: “When you say active boycott, it means you stay home, you are not voting. But we must not prevent citizens who want to vote from voting. That fits in with another frame … “
The spouses regret that this election, which was to mark the first democratic and, above all, peaceful change between the country, awakens the old demons to which the Ivorians are unfortunately used. But the boycott of opposition candidates does not mean anything to them: “There are candidates who have withdrawn. We decided to go for reconciliation so we go to the end. In an election, even if you are fighting, there is the majority. It is in the ballot paper that the people decide. If the opposition feels that there is a majority, it must go to the polls to get people’s decision. To me, it’s democracy. ”
The bride and groom still stored some provisions, a reflex born of past crises. But they are still confident that a peaceful election will be held.
Those who do not vote: “The election is won in advance”
But some families have decided to follow the slogan of the opposition and not go to the polls this Saturday, October 31st. In a noisy alley in the daily business, as there are a thousand in this popular district of Port-Bouët, live Francis and his wife. Behind a cast iron door: a tiled patio protected by a prison roof and a well that their seven grandchildren revolve around.
The 60-year-old patriarch grabs a plastic chair and explains why he refuses to participate in what he sees as an election masquerade. “I think it’s an election won in advance, we’re already being told of a knockout blow,” he blames Alassane Ouattara. “I am at first corrupt, I am despairing.”
Indignant at the election of the constitutional council, which invalidated several candidacies, he said he wanted to follow the call to boycott the opposition. “The candidate who could liberate my nation was not elected. This is why I do not want to vote. “However, he refuses to disrupt the voting day and urges his relatives to do the same. “When you do not want to vote, there is no point in going out and taking revenge, it is not worth it. You need to stay home and that’s better. ”
As the father of a family, the man with the jade green eyes shares the concern of his wife, whom he invites to join him without forgetting to celebrate their thirty years of marriage. On the eve of the election, she is afraid for her family. “There is too much tension. It is widely rumored that there will be problems. We do not know what it will be like, that’s what scares me. ”
This mother is less interested in political quarrels and is very upset about the fact that her last three children, all graduates of high school, cannot find work. Also she will refuse to participate in this election.
Return on a strange campaign
How are these so dichotomous positions explained? This strange campaign really begins on August 6, when Alassane Ouattara announces that he is seeking a third term. This announcement immediately provoked a shout from the opposition. The first sporadic demonstrations erupt, often marked by deadly violence. The opposition raises its voice but submits candidacies to the CEI.
► Also read: Alassane Ouattara: “Difficult, even impossible, for me to be a candidate in 2025”
Second stage, 14 September. The Constitutional Council rejects 40 candidacies out of 44, including Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro. It only retains the candidate president, Henri Konan Bédié, Pascal Affi N’Guessan and KKB.
► Also read: Ivorian opponent Pascal Affi N’Guessan: “For us, no election next Saturday”
► Also read: Ivory Coast: Kouadio Konan Bertin, the opponent who wanted an active vote
The climate is becoming more strained. This time, the opposition parties are federating, whether their candidate is elected or not. They call for civil disobedience to the Ouattara candidacy, against the Constitutional Council and the Electoral Commission. The call does not take the street immediately. On the contrary, the RHDP candidate turns a deaf ear and fights the campaign, floods the streets with posters, times the journey. To clarify its strategy, the opposition is calling for an “active boycott” of the electoral process, restarting street protests. Dams multiply. The violence is getting worse. Political violence, which often takes a society, as in Dabou, where 16 people are killed.
“There will be no election on October 31,” the opposition insisted, demanding a transition. Neither postponement nor transition answers the Ivorian president, who confirms that no matter what happens, the vote will be held on the scheduled date. International mediations fail. 48 hours before the vote, the positions are frozen.
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