Sporadic protest marches, at the behest of the Ivorian opposition, against a third term for President Alassane Ouattara in the October 31, 2020 presidential election have been reported in Abidjan and other areas of Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday.
In Abidjan, the epicenter of the demonstrations, clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers took place in Yopougon Niangon (West), especially in the Beynouan pharmacy sector, as well as in Yopougon Sogefiha on Thursday morning.
The demonstrators blockaded the road connecting Gonzaqueville to Jean Folly, which are districts of the seaside town of Port-Bouet.
Vehicles coming from Grand-Bassam, about 40 km southeast of Abidjan were turned back around 9 a.m. GMT (local time).
Traffic on the Grand Bassam-Abidjan highway was disrupted by the demonstrations.
Security forces had to be deployed to clear the barricades and restore traffic after businesses were forced to close.
In Cocody (east of Abidjan), demonstrations were also taking place in the Anono area, where at the level of the chiefdom, the road was blocked by demonstrators who set tires on fire before fleeing the scene.
A heavy police presence was witnessed in the area.
It was the same for the upscale district of Abidjan, where the presence of demonstrators was visible in the Deux Plateau Mobile district as traffic was disrupted.
On this side, the businesses near the area had to close.
Although less intense, compared to the economic capital, a few demonstrations also took place in the capital.
On Thursday morning, along the Tabou-Iboke route, demonstrators blockaded the road like they did the Tiassale-Divo highway.
The main road in the western town of Bangolo was blocked by protesters during a protest march against another presidential term for Ouattara.
On the road to Dabou, west of Abidjan, access was blocked at Songon.
The eligibility of outgoing leader, Alassane Ouattara has fueled political debate in recent weeks.
While Ouattara’s backers maintain that the 2016 constitution establishes a Third Republic and resets the counting to zero, the opposition insist on legislative continuity.
The ruling ‘Rassemblement des Houphouetistes pour la Democratie et la Paix (RHDP) believes that the November 2016 constitution, creating a Third Republic, allows Mr. Ouattara to run for his first term in the current republic.
He has been in power since 2011.
AP/ls/fss/APA