Abidjan – Around a thousand young supporters of Ivory Coast’s opposition candidate Tidjane Thiam gathered in Abidjan Sunday for a second day running to protest his exclusion from the presidential vote, an AFP reporter saw.
A court in Abidjan struck Thiam off the electoral list on April 22, saying the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987.
“One thing at a time. It’s time to put rhetoric aside and take action,” declared Henri Joel Kouadio, head of the student youth wing of the Democratic Party (PDCI) at party headquarters in the Cocody district of the capital.
“For us, the youth of the PDCI, if Tidjane Thiam is not on the final electoral list, there will be no elections in Ivory Coast,” he insisted.
On Saturday, Thiam’s party mobilised thousands of people in Abidjan to call for “national mobilisation” in protest at “injustice, tyranny, and fear”.
A PDCI rally is also planned for Thursday in the Plateau business district.
That day, an Abidjan court is scheduled to hear a case that could remove Thiam from his position as party president as a PDCI activist contests his legitimacy to stand for election on grounds of nationality.
Born in Ivory Coast, Thiam acquired French nationality in 1987 but renounced it in March in order to run for president, as candidates are not allowed to hold dual citizenship.
Last month’s court ruling said the former international banker had lost his Ivorian nationality in taking French citizenship, basing its ruling on article 48 of the country’s nationality code, which dates back to the 1960s
It states that acquiring another nationality means forgoing Ivorian citizenship.
Other opposition figures have also been excluded from the presidential race, including former president Laurent Gbagbo due to court convictions.
The definitive list of candidates is expected to be published on June 20.
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Source: AFP
