Abidjan – AFP

Counting of municipal and regional elections in Ivory Coast began on Saturday after peaceful polls aimed at striking a balance between the government and a unified opposition, two years ahead of the next presidential election.

Voting officially closed at 5pm on Saturday, but many polling stations remained open, particularly in the Abidjan region, as voters delayed casting their ballots. On Saturday afternoon, the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, Ibrahim Guibert, said: “In general, everything seems to be going well,” acknowledging some logistical problems that did not cause concern in some centers.

Op Nouvelle, an organization that monitors potential areas of tension during the election, reported some clashes at polling stations, but the electoral process was peaceful in the country’s regions. In 2020, 85 people died in unrest related to the presidential election in Ivory Coast.

The results of the vote, which will lead to elections for 201 mayors and 31 regional council presidents, will be known in the coming days before the Independent Electoral Commission publishes the official results next week.

This will be the first election in Ivory Coast since the return of former President Laurent Gbagbo in 2021.

The former president, who was acquitted by the International Court of Justice of crimes against humanity during the crisis that followed the 2011 election, had his name removed from the electoral roll due to convictions in his country for actions related to that crisis. So he could not vote on Saturday.