The 2020 Ivorian Election And The ‘Third-term’ Debate: A Crisis Of ‘Korocracy’?

Abstract : In 2020, Côte d’Ivoire was supposed to turn an important page in its history. Ten years after the end of the war, peace and growth had returned to the country. On 5 March, in Yamoussoukro, Alassane Dramane Ouattara (popularly known as ADO) officially declared that he would not run for another term and would instead ‘make way for a new generation’.1 This decision seemed to cement prospects for post-conflict democratic consolidation at a time when many African countries, especially neighbouring Guinea, were facing serious tensions over the issue of third presidential terms. But the death on 8 July of Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the prime minister...