ABIDJAN, Aug 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sixty people have officially submitted bids to run for president of Ivory Coast in October elections, including two leading opposition figures who have already been ruled ineligible.

The candidacies, filed with the electoral commission by Tuesday's midnight deadline, now go before the Constitutional Council, which is tasked with drawing up the final list.

In the run-up to the October 25 ballot, the political climate is tense in the west African country, especially due to court rulings barring several opposition figures from the race.

Among them are Tidjane Thiam, leader of the largest opposition force, the PDCI party, who is ineligible due to nationality-related legal issues.

Ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, head of the African Peoples' Party -- Ivory Coast (PPA-CI), is also excluded because of a criminal conviction.

Both men, however, have presented their formal electoral bids. The Constitutional Council has until September 10 to release the final list of candidates.

Thiam, a former international banker who has been away from Ivory Coast since mid-March, is running for the country's presidency "to respond to its people's call for change", his chief of staff Alain Cocauthrey said.

"In a so-called democratic country, it is only through elections that one makes one's ideas known. I hope that Ivorians can choose in peace," said Sebastien Dano Djedje, the PPA-CI's executive president.

President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has announced he will seek a fourth term, presented the papers for his candidacy in person on Tuesday.
He said he was answering "the call of many Ivorians who want us to continue together on the path to peace, stability and development".