If the results are confirmed, the 83-year-old, who has led the country since 2011, will be in office for a fourth term.
Published October 26, 2025
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara is leading the way for re-election, according to partial election results released by the Independent Electoral Commission.
Results from several sectors and polling stations were announced on state television on Sunday.
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If approved, Ouattara, 83, who has led the country since 2011, will secure a fourth term in power.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris said in a report from the economic capital Abidjan that “the results of 20 ministries or sectors have been read out,” leaving 11 ministries remaining, where officials read out Saturday’s election results. This included discrete votes from six countries.
“This is the most important stage of this election, where the results from various polling stations and centers will be tabulated and announced,” Idris said.
“From the initial results, it is clear that incumbents are leading by large margins in many areas so far.”
Sunday’s announcement will determine whether the candidates in this election go to the run-off or win in the first round, added our correspondent.
“Ivorians are watching what happens here, and the outcome of this election will decide whether there will be peace in the streets or not,” he said.
Nearly nine million Ivorians were eligible to vote in the election, which was further hampered by the opposition’s failure to field two strong candidates.
Mr Ouattara’s leading rivals, former president Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam, were barred from running, with Mr Gbagbo convicted of a crime and Mr Thiam barred from running because he had acquired French citizenship.
This sparked pre-election protests and calls from some quarters to boycott the vote.
Official turnout figures have not yet been released, but Electoral Commission President Ibrahime Coulibaly-Quibière estimated the figure to be around 50 percent.
Polling stations in Abidjan and the southern and western regions, which have historically supported rebel groups, were nearly empty, AFP news agency reported. Meanwhile, it was announced that voters had turned out in large numbers in the north, where Ouattara had gained most of his support.
With major candidates withdrawing from the race, Ouattara became the overwhelming favorite.
Saturday’s vote was reminiscent of the previous election in 2020, when the country won 94 percent of the vote with just over 50 percent turnout in an election boycotted by the main opposition party at the time.
None of the four candidates who faced Ouattara were representatives of major political parties, nor was the influence of the ruling party, the Who Fetist Assembly for Democracy and Peace.
