The senatorial elections in Ivory Coast: unsurprising domination
On September 16, Ivory Coast organized its senatorial elections, with more than 9,000 electors called to vote to elect 64 senators. Unsurprisingly, the ruling party, the Rassemblement des Houphouëtistes pour la Démocratie et la Paix (RHDP), won a large victory in this election.
It was predictable that the RHDP would retain its majority, given that it is the regional and municipal councilors who vote to elect the senators. However, during the local elections, the RHDP had won 23 regions out of 30 and 123 communes out of 199. Consequently, it was almost guaranteed to maintain its dominant position during the senatorial elections.
According to the provisional results, the RHDP lists won 56 of the 64 seats to be filled. The Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), which held 18 seats during the previous mandate, only obtained 6. The remaining 2 seats went to independent candidates.
The opposition has expressed its dissatisfaction with the organization of these elections while the electoral disputes concerning the local elections of September 2 have not yet been handled by the Council of State. Some denounce rushed and illegal elections, questioning the validity of the results if the Council of State invalidates the election of a municipality or region.
A surprise came with the defeat of the outgoing president of the Senate, Jeannot Ahoussou-Kouadio, who lost his seat. Despite the division of local RHDP elected officials in the Bélier region, they decided not to renew it.
The participation rate was high, reaching 69% at midday, up 6 points compared to the previous senatorial elections in 2018. The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) noted calm and peaceful elections, despite an incident that occurred in the town of Man.
These senatorial elections in Côte d’Ivoire confirm the dominant position of the ruling party, the RHDP. However, they raise questions about their legality and the validity of the results, given the ongoing electoral disputes. It remains to be seen how these issues will be resolved and what impact they will have on the composition of the Ivorian Senate.