In Côte d’Ivoire, the Ministry of Justice has sought to clarify the legal standing of opposition leader Tidjane Thiam, following last week’s controversial court ruling that declared him ineligible for the October 2025 presidential election.
During a press briefing on Monday 28 April, Justice Ministry official Augustin Kouamé stated emphatically that Thiam is not stateless and had, in fact, regained his Ivorian nationality in March 2025—months after renouncing his French citizenship. This clarification comes amid growing political pressure and public confusion over the ruling’s implications for Thiam’s candidacy.
According to the ministry, Thiam, originally an Ivorian citizen by birth, lost his nationality automatically upon becoming a French citizen in 1987. However, under what the ministry calls a principle of legal symmetry, he automatically reacquired his Ivorian nationality on 19 March 2025, once he was released from his obligations to France. The court, however, had dismissed this interpretation, arguing that Thiam was not Ivorian at the time of his voter registration in 2022. His lawyers, claiming he held dual nationality from birth, have since filed an appeal, arguing the ruling was procedurally flawed and improperly communicated.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) continues to challenge the decision, demanding Thiam’s reinstatement on the electoral roll and calling for an independent audit of the voter list. PDCI spokesperson Soumaïla Bredoumy reiterated that the party views Thiam’s Ivorian nationality as indisputable and warned that excluding him would be politically unacceptable. With just months before the election, this legal and political standoff threatens to escalate tensions, as the opposition frames the court’s decision as an attempt to sideline a key contender in the race.
