Polls in Abidjan close and the counting of ballots begins for Ivory Coast’s parliamentary elections.
More than seven million voters are choosing their deputies following a campaign without major incidents that raised hopes for a return to a peaceful political climate, four months after a turbulent presidential election.
Grappling with a deep political crisis, President Alassane Ouattara has offered an olive branch to his former rival, Laurent Gbagbo, whose party has now lifted a decade-long boycott of elections.
More than 1,500 candidates are vying for the votes of roughly seven million people in a contest for the 255-seat National Assembly in the world’s top cocoa grower, a former haven of peace and prosperity in troubled West Africa.
A masked Ouattara voted in the plush Cocody neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s main city and economic hub.
Micheline Irielou, a 43-year-old who lives in Abidjan’s central Plateau district where all government offices are located, called for change.
In contrast to the bloodshed that marked the October 31 presidential poll, campaigning has been as peaceful as it has been enthusiastic.
All the candidates have pledged support for peaceful elections and signed up to a code of conduct.
By Hussein Jama
March 7, 2021
