Ivory Coast’s Constitutional Court has ruled that Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition party, is ineligible to run in the October 25 presidential election due to the loss of his Ivorian nationality. The decision, announced on Tuesday, April 22, is final and not subject to appeal, effectively disqualifying one of the country’s most high-profile opposition figures.
Thiam, a former CEO of Credit Suisse and prominent political newcomer, was removed from the electoral roll after the court found he had forfeited his Ivorian citizenship upon acquiring French nationality in 1987. His legal team argued that Thiam was French by birth—through his father—and therefore should not have lost his Ivorian status under Article 48 of the 1961 nationality code. However, the court dismissed this claim, stating that he did not meet the criteria for dual nationality at birth.
In March, Thiam formally renounced his French citizenship to comply with Ivory Coast’s constitutional requirement that presidential candidates hold only Ivorian nationality. Despite this move, the court ruled that his renunciation did not retroactively restore his Ivorian citizenship.
Thiam’s lawyer, Me Ange Rodrigue Dadjé, decried the ruling as politically motivated. “This is not just a legal matter; it’s a deliberate effort to block a serious contender,” he said, pointing to broader concerns over the fairness of the electoral process.
The controversy surrounding Thiam is part of a larger pattern in Ivorian politics. Other opposition figures—former President Laurent Gbagbo, ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, and Charles Blé Goudé—have also been struck from the voter register due to legal complications, sparking accusations that the ruling party is using the judiciary to sideline its rivals.
With the presidential election looming, the removal of major opposition candidates has raised fears of political unrest and diminished public confidence in the democratic process.
