The campaign aims to mobilise citizens to increase the number of voters on the electoral roll, 15 months before the 2025 presidential elections.
The head of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, launched a civic and electoral education campaign at the National School of Administration (ENA) in Abidjan on Wednesday 12 June.
In front of nearly 400 students from the different cycles of the National School of Administration, gathered in the Laurent Gbagbo Amphitheatre, the IEC President explained the challenge of the election for a citizen.
For him, it is unacceptable that an Ivorian of voting age who fulfils the conditions cannot register on the electoral list. He urged people to register to vote during the next revision of the electoral roll.
Taking advantage of this forum, Mr Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert also invited the political parties to play their role fully and correctly by raising the awareness of their supporters on electoral issues.
He then assured stakeholders that the Independent Electoral Commission, in its current composition and functioning, and in the light of the legal blueprint that frames the electoral process, cannot distort the game for the benefit of anyone.
The IEC civic and electoral education campaign will last two months and cover all 31 autonomous regions and districts of the country. During this campaign, IEC agents will hold conferences to explain the interest of participating in the electoral process.
Opposition parties and civil society organisations are calling for a reform of the IEC, which “must undergo a profound transformation in order to regain its independence, play its role and fully assume its status as electoral manager”.
In a joint statement, they reveal that “since 13 May 2024, prefects and sub-prefects have been organising meetings with representatives of political parties and civil society in their respective localities in order to update the electoral map”.
According to them, “this operation began without any authority of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and/or the Ministry of the Interior having thought of officially informing either the political parties or the civil society organisations, let alone the population”.
“It is clear that, without any consensual approach, the IEC is in the process of unilaterally involving our country, Cote d’Ivoire, in the 2025 electoral process for the presidential and future legislative elections,” they note.
For them, “the time has come to engage in an open and inclusive dialogue that will make it possible to organise transparent and peaceful elections. Indeed, the demands of the electoral calendar require that discussions begin now so that all points of disagreement can be resolved in advance and in time”.
Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who was struck off the electoral list following his conviction in the BCEAO robbery case, has been nominated by his party for the October 2025 presidential election and awaits re-registration.
AP/lb/as/APA