Waiting in the wings is Laurent Gbagbo Ouattara's old rival preparing to return to Côte d'Ivoire to cheer on the opposition...
In October Ouattara will face opponents representing a broader range of opinion than in 2015 when the hegemonic RHDP's main challenger was Pascal Affi N'Guessan leading the half of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) that was no longer loyal to former head of state Laurent Gbagbo...
They could shape the contest by mobilising anti-Ouattara opinion even from their enforced residence in Europe: they are former parliamentary speaker Guillaume Soro and former President Laurent Gbagbo...