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Ivory Coast court bars former Credit Suisse CEO from presidential race

Ivorian presidential election: "It's me or no-one", says Thiam
Ivorian presidential election: "It's me or no-one", says Thiam Keystone-SDA

Ivorian opposition politician and former CEO of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam has been barred from running in the October presidential election due to a court ruling on his nationality. He told AFP on Wednesday that his party would not replace him.

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He now plans to take his case to the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to contest the decision.

“It’s me or no one. We won’t put forward another candidate,” said Thiam in a phone interview with the AFP news agency.

On Tuesday, the court in Abidjan removed Thiam from the electoral roll, citing the loss of his Ivorian nationality. This decision, which cannot be appealed, effectively ends his bid for the October 25 presidential election.

Thiam joins other opponents, including former president Laurent Gbagbo, who was removed from the list due to a court conviction.

On Wednesday, the leader of the Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), who had nominated him as a presidential candidate just last Thursday, announced plans to appeal to the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

Translated from French with DeepL/sp

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