Alassane Ouattara - 2010 Presidential Election and Aftermath

2010 Presidential Election and Aftermath

In the 2010 presidential election, Ouattara ran against incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo, whose mandate had expired in 2005, had delayed the election several times. The Electoral Commission of Côte d'Ivoire missed the deadline for declaring the results as papers were snatched from an official who was about to read the results on live TV. Later on, on 2 December 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission of Côte d'Ivoire (CEI) declared Alassane Ouattara winner of the second round of the presidential election. However, the Constitutional Council called this illegal because it was no longer in the hands of the Commission to give results. The Constitutional Council promised to finish its process and come out with results. The Constitutional Council has the final word on the outcome of elections. The head of the Constitutional Council then invalidated 500,000 votes from pro-Ouattara regions (which constituted almost 10% of the total vote), and thus, declared Gbagbo as the winner. The United Nations, which according to a 2007 peace deal is required to certify election results, rejected the Constitutional Council's figures.

The army closed the borders and foreign news organizations were banned from broadcasting from within Côte d'Ivoire. Mr Gbagbo was sworn in at a midday ceremony by the President of the Constitutional Council on Saturday 4 December 2010. Hours later, Ouattara said he had also taken the presidential oath. The African Union, the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the UN, the United States, and France were among the nations and international organizations that rejected Gbagbo's presidency. The International Monetary Fund stated they would only work with a government recognized by the United Nations. On 8 December, the UN Security Council formally recognized Ouattara as the winner, and, in a statement, asked "all stakeholders to respect the outcome of the election."

In the crisis that followed, Ouattara attempted to negotiate with Gbagbo for several months but seeing no resolution, ordered a military offensive which allowed him to seize control of most of the country. After an aborted negotiation attempt, Gbagbo was arrested by French special forces at the presidential palace and handed over to Ouattara forces in Abidjan on 11 April, 2011. The country has been severely damaged by the war, observers consider that it will be a challenge for Ouattara to rebuild the economy and reunite Ivorians.

The developments in the country have been welcomed by world leaders. U.S. President Barack Obama applauded news of the latest developments in Côte d'Ivoire and CNN quoted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying Gbagbo's capture "sends a strong signal to dictators and tyrants.... They may not disregard the voice of their own people".