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

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 and Ouattara’s chosen successor, upended this scenario of generational change.