Major Opposition Candidates Disqualified Ahead of Ivory Coast Election.

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The Constitutional Council announced that former president Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam are ineligible to run in the October twenty-fifth vote. The council cited their removal from the electoral roll as the reason for their exclusion.

Despite these disqualifications, both men had formally submitted their candidacies to challenge President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a fourth term at the age of eighty-three. And with their exclusion, five candidates remain in the race, including former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, and former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello, and Henriette Lagou.