Former President of Côte d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo has declared on that he will withhold endorsement from any contender in the October 15 presidential election, slamming the Constitutional Council’s slate as lacking consensus and legitimacy.

Gbagbo, 79, barred from running due to a 2019 ICC acquittal on war crimes but lingering domestic conviction, addressed supporters via his African People’s Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPCI) spokesperson Me Habiba Touré. “The candidates approved by the Council do not represent the major political parties,” Touré stated, underscoring Gbagbo’s view that Ouattara’s re-election violates the 2016 constitution’s two-term limit, which the Council reset by deeming it a “new” charter.

Among the five cleared candidates—Ouattara (RDR), Simone Gbagbo (ex-wife, PPA-CI), former PM Hamed Bakayoko (RDR ally), and independents Tidjane Thiam (ex-World Bank) and Pascal Affi N’Guessan (FPI)—none earned Gbagbo’s nod.

Simone, his estranged spouse acquitted alongside him in 2021, leads the FPI splinter, while Thiam’s disqualification over dual citizenship was overturned amid controversy. Gbagbo urged “democratic and peaceful actions” against Ouattara’s “illegal” quest, echoing his 2020 post-arrest vow to reclaim power.

Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly warned of legal repercussions for challenging the Council, CPDM-dominated and accused of bias. The race, pitting Ouattara’s economic record (6% GDP growth) against inflation (4.5%) and youth unemployment (30%), unfolds amid 2020 poll violence killing 85.