Ivory coast elections
Ivory Coast holds talks on political crisis
The meeting focussed on demands for reform of the country's electoral commission ahead of legislative elections early next year, an opposition leader told...
The solemn ceremony was attended by 13 African counterparts as well as former French president Nicolas Sarkozy - but boycotted by the opposition, as was the election that returned Ouattara to power.
Ecowas 'sends the elected president its warm congratulations' and 'its sincere wishes for success', a statement from the 15-member bloc said.
Nearly 50 people have been killed in clashes since August and two opposition chiefs have been arrested, fuelling fears Ivory Coast could slide into the kind of widespread unrest it suffered after a disputed 2010 vote.
Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara has been reelected with more than 94% of the vote, electoral authorities said Tuesday, after a poll marred by clashes and an opposition boycott over his bid for a contested third term.
The move deepened a crisis that erupted in August when Ouattara said he would run again, to the fury of the opposition who called it a constitutional breach and an 'electoral coup' in the West African country.
By midday Monday, the Electoral Commission had released preliminary results from around a quarter of the country's 108 regions showing President Alassane Ouattara with a commanding lead, as much as 90% in parts of his stronghold in the north.
The West African country's electoral commission released preliminary results from Saturday's ballot showing Ouattara with a dominant lead, which had been expected given the opposition's boycott.
At least 30 died in clashes in the lead-up to the vote, reviving fears for many Ivorians over a repeat of the West African nation's 2010-2011 post-election crisis when 3,000 people were killed.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who came to power in 2011 after bloody post-election conflict, is accused by critics of sidestepping constitutional constraints in seeking a third term in office.
The killings in and around Dabou, west of Abidjan, have fuelled worries Ivory Coast may again slide into the kind of post-election violence that left 3,000 dead in a 2010-2011 crisis.
Most of the protesters were youths, who had set up roadblocks on the main road to neighbouring Ghana from the town of Bounoua, a onetime stronghold of former first lady Simone Gbagbo.
The clashes occurred around the city of Bongouanou, a stronghold of opposition candidate Pascal Affi N'Guessan 200 kilometres north of the economic hub Abidjan, the witnesses said.
The vote has sparked tensions in Ivory Coast as incumbent President Alassane Ouattara seeks a controversial third term, prompting fears of violence.
Millions more will vote across the region - in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Nigeria - before the year is out, under the wary eye of defenders of democracy.
Guillaume Soro urged the country's opposition parties to unite against President Alassane Ouattara even as he insisted that the 31 October presidential poll 'does not make any sense' as it was designed to 'endorse the institutional state coup d'etat of Alassane Ouattara'.
The constitutional council also barred former president Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader turned prime minister Guillaume Soro from standing in next month's presidential election.
The vote in the country with a recent history of post-election violence has turned volatile after President Alassane Ouattara's handpicked successor died unexpectedly, prompting the incumbent to run for a contentious third term.
Macron has repeatedly said he wants to break from the past in which France often seemed to call the shots in its former colonies and said that it was time for older generations to hand over to Africa’s younger politicians.