In Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, thousands of citizens flooded the streets to voice their anger over the exclusion of key opposition leaders from the forthcoming presidential election.
The West African nation, home to the largest economy in francophone West Africa, is set to hold its presidential vote in October. Earlier this year, the electoral commission barred four prominent opposition figures from contesting, including former President Laurent Gbagbo and ex-Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam.
On Saturday morning, demonstrators gathered in Yopougon, one of Abidjan’s most crowded suburbs, waving banners with slogans such as: “Enough is enough!”, “No true democracy without true justice,” and “We are millions saying YES to Gbagbo and Thiam.”
Gbagbo and Thiam, who formed an alliance earlier this year, had planned to challenge the current president, Alassane Ouattara.
