BY PROSPER SEDJRO

[Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire The African] At the end of the traditional State of the Union address delivered just two hours ago here before both chambers of the Ivorian parliament, President Alassane Ouattara stunned the lawmakers with the announcement that he will not seek a third term in office, contrary to previous statements.

“I hereby announce solemnly that I have decided not to be a candidate for the presidential election of October 31, 2020, and to transfer power to a younger generation,” President Ouattara said, drawing thunderous applause.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara doubles down on plan to seek a third term

The president’s hint, three years ago, that the new constitution adopted in 2016 sets back the clock for a new beginning of sorts that allows him to run again for two terms, was not taken seriously. But, when he announced on November 30, 2019 in an address in Katiola, upcountry, that he might actually run (if other politicians of his generation run) and doubled down a week later in Yamoussoukro during the high-profile celebration of the 26th anniversary of the passing of the nation’s founding father Félix Houphouët-Boigny, that got everybody’s attention.

However, it appeared no one knew for sure; to which the president responded by promising to announce his final decision in July of this year. Now the wait is over.

The president’s announcement today was cheered, not only by the lawmakers, but also by hundreds of students in attendance who were heard chanting “Thank you! Thank you!”

Notably, opposition leaders applauded the move, with former prime minister Pascal Affi Nguessan saying that the decision allows the president “to end his political career with his head held up.” Nguessan added that the president’s announcement will help “make the political environment more calm and allow more clarity.”

Ivorian President Ouattara’s plans to modify the constitution scrutinized

The political campaign for the October 2020 presidential election is yet to start, but the political climate has grown so intense over the past three years or so that many, at home and abroad, fear a repeat of the violence that has shaken the country time and time again, resulting in thousands of deaths.

The climate was bad enough after the collapse of the ‘perfect trio’ comprising former President Henri Konan Bedie, former prime minister and former speaker of the parliament Guillaume Soro, and President Ouattara, three men who joined hands to break former President Laurent Gbagbo’s resolve to stay in power despite losing the 2010 election—albeit after a civil war that claimed 3,000 deaths.

Then, the day after Christmas, during a high-profile newsconference in Abidjan, state prosecutor Richard Adou Kouame brought up a charge of coup plot against the former speaker of the parliament, Guillaume Soro, which drove up the political tension. Soro, who announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, has been residing in France since.