Côte d’Ivoire: Can the 2015 elections consolidate peace?

The 2010 presidential poll in Côte d’Ivoire was presented as a post-conflict election, yet it plunged the country into unprecedented post-election violence.

The 2010 presidential election plunged Côte d’Ivoire into an armed conflict that resulted in the deaths of more than 3 000 people. It is unlikely that the 2015 election will trigger such large-scale violence but this alone should not be seen either as a sign of democratic success or a guarantee of stability for the future. While all the attention is turned to the 25 October ballot, immediate electoral concerns must be seen in the context of medium- and long-term stability issues. If responses to the new and old core issues are not effective the risk of a setback in the political and security dynamics to normalise the country will remain real.

About the author

Dr Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni joined the ISS in 2012 and is currently the head of the Dakar office. Before attaining this position she was a senior researcher with the Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis division in the Dakar office. Prior to joining the ISS, Lori-Anne worked as a researcher on peace and security issues with the Network on Peace Operations (ROP) at the University of Montreal in Canada. She has developed various projects relating to peace operations mainly in New York and Addis Ababa. Lori-Anne’s field research and policy work in West Africa has covered peace operations, peace processes, post-conflict electoral processes, the anthropology of conflict, media and democratisation. She has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto in Canada.