Alassane Dramane Ouattara (ADO)

Today Issoufou is earning international plaudits for stepping down at the end of his second mandate as the term limit requires – rather than seeking to amend it as his Guinean and Ivorian counterparts Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara have done (AC Vol 61 No 22 Condé shrugs off poll doubts & Ouattara sweeps half the board)...

It was only hours after the Constitutional Court confirmed President Alassane Ouattara's overwhelming win at the 31 October presidential elections on 9 November that the victor extended an olive branch to the opposition which had watched helpless as Ouattara barrelled his way to a controversial third term (AC Vol 61 No 22 Ouattara sweeps half the board)...

Although President Alassane Ouattara won a third successive presidential term with 94% of the popular vote it was on a mere 53...

With no sign of President Alassane Ouattara or his major opponents considering meaningful compromise over the 31 October election tensions have taken on a dangerously inter-communal tinge...

United in condemnation of Alassane Ouattara's bid for a third term but failing to present a coherent alternative the Ivorian opposition has all but written off its chances of preventing a first-round presidential victory on 31 October...

Ouattara's diplomatic headaches So often Alassane Ouattara has been at the heart of regional diplomatic efforts to manage other countries' crises...

The presidents of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara have been most vociferous in their hard line against Mali (AC Vol 61 No 17 The junta haggles on transition) and will not have taken kindly to remarks made by their counterpart from Guinea Bissau...

Regional presidents with the hawkish Alassane Ouattara of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea's Alpha Condé in the lead started out by demanding IBK's return backed by draconian sanctions the closure of all borders and the suspension of all trade links...

That the Commission électorale indépendante (CEI) would clear President Alassane Ouattara to stand for a third term – as happened on 24 August – was never in doubt despite the questions about its legality that have dominated public debate...

It was said to be influenced by Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara the Presidents of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire who are both standing for constitutionally questionable re-elections to third terms this year...

The decision by President Alassane Dramane Ouattara to tear up his promise to make way for a new generation of leaders is a gamble that risks dividing the ruling party and energising the opposition...