It was a promise. A red line. A solemn declaration before the Ivorian people and the world. In October 2020, while seeking a highly controversial third presidential term, President Alassane Ouattara stated:

"This is enough. It’s a sacrifice I’m making for this year. So, for 2025, it would be difficult, even impossible, for me to be a candidate."

Five years later, that “sacrifice” seems to have become eternal.

On July 29, 2025, at 83 years old, Ouattara announced his candidacy for a fourth consecutive term as President of Côte d'Ivoire. In a statement released through his official channels, he justified his decision by invoking the Constitution and his health:

"I am a candidate because the Constitution allows it, and my health permits it."

From impossible to necessary?

The contrast is striking. In 2020, Ouattara ran again despite widespread criticism, arguing that he was responding to an "institutional vacuum" caused by the untimely death of his chosen successor, Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Yet he vowed that this third term would be his last.

In 2025, not only is he once again declaring his candidacy, but he now speaks of a “generational transfer” — as though such a transition could only occur through his continued hold on power.

An election without rivalry

This fourth term is shaping up with no real competition. The main opposition leaders — Laurent Gbagbo, Tidjane Thiam, Guillaume Soro — have been excluded from the race due to controversial court rulings. In this context, the incumbent stands virtually unopposed, reinforcing criticism of an authoritarian drift cloaked in constitutional legality.

Between political memory and amnesia

If validated at the ballot box in October, this fourth term would extend a reign that began in 2010. Fifteen years in power, and a political path that appears to disregard the very limits he once set for himself. Once seen as a symbol of political change, Ouattara now embodies a continuity with no clear path to succession.