By Coulibaly Media and Robbie Corey-Boulet
ABIDJAN (Reuters) -Ivory Coast is voting in a presidential election on Saturday with incumbent Alassane Ouattara, 83, claiming credit for nearly 15 years of economic growth and relative stability while strongly hinting it will be his final campaign.
A former international banker and deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ouattara took power in 2011 after a four-month civil war that killed around 3,000 people.
The war was triggered by the refusal of his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge defeat in the 2010 election.
Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse, were deemed ineligible to run this year, and the remaining opposition candidates lack the backing of a major political party, making Ouattara the clear favourite.
Announcing his candidacy in July, Ouattara said a fourth term would be one of “generational transmission.” He reiterated the point at a lunch this week attended by journalists as well as his 73-year-old prime minister and 76-year-old vice president.
“We know that the country needs to renew its team,” he said. “It’s not easy to work at the same pace at our age.”
Ivory Coast’s median age is 18.
YOUNG IVORIANS VOICE SCEPTICISM
The world’s biggest cocoa producer is among the fastest-growing economies in the region. Its international bonds are some of the best performing in Africa.
Ouattara has tried to diversify economic output, with mining a key focus, while investing in schools and road infrastructure to attract more private investment.
“We have turned Ivory Coast around,” he said at a triumphant final rally in the commercial capital Abidjan on Thursday.
“The country has experienced extraordinary growth since 2011. And this growth must continue.”
Not everyone is convinced.
“We are tired of seeing old people making decisions for us, the younger generation,” said Landry Ka, a 22-year-old student.
“We are young and we want someone who really understands the problems facing young people in Ivory Coast, someone who will come and enable us to find jobs.”
Ka said he is backing Simone Gbagbo, the former first lady and Ouattara’s highest-profile challenger. She is 76.
The youngest candidate in the race is former commerce minister Jean-Louis Billon, at 60. He failed to get the backing of the main opposition party PDCI, led by Thiam, who is 63.
“Many young Ivorians express deep scepticism toward the political elite, citing persistent unemployment, economic inequality, and a lack of meaningful representation,” said Chukwuemeka Eze, director of the Democratic Futures in Africa Program at Open Society Foundations.
HUNDREDS ARRESTED DURING CAMPAIGN
More than eight million people are registered to vote on Saturday. Polling stations open at 0800 GMT and close at 1800 GMT.
Provisional results are expected within five days. A runoff will be held if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.
Though Ivory Coast has a history of election-related violence, this year’s campaign has been mostly calm, with scattered protests in numerous locations including the political capital Yamoussoukro.
The government has deployed 44,000 members of the security forces throughout the country and enforced what Amnesty International said was a disproportionate ban on protests.
Hundreds have been arrested, and the interior ministry said dozens had received prison terms of up to three years for offences including disturbing public order.
Government spokesperson Patrick Achi, a former prime minister, told Reuters that the government protected freedom of speech but was also determined to maintain order.
“Let’s keep stability, and then the generation to come will improve. But at least the economy that went through so much won’t again be destroyed,” he said.
(Reporting by Media Coulibaly and Robbie Corey-Boulet; Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Ange Aboa; Editing by William Maclean)
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