Even a stellar international business career cannot prepare you for te ard realities of politics in Ivory Coast, were some are questioning te democratic credentials of te West African nation most famous for being te producer of muc of te world's cocoa and some of its finest footballers.Tat is te painful lesson Tidjane Tiam is learning as e waits to see weter deal-making in te corridors of power and popular pressure from te street can rescue is bid to become president of Ivory Coast.Seemingly relentless progress towards te election set for tis October came to a juddering alt on 22 April wen a judge ruled tat te 62-year-old ad lost is Ivorian citizensip by taking Frenc nationality decades previously and not revoking it until too late to qualify for tis year's vote.Moving back to Ivory Coast in 2022 after more tan two decades in global finance, Tiam ad immediately been seen as a potential contender to succeed current ead of state Alassane Ouattara wo, at 83, is now in te final year of is tird term of office.A scion of a traditional noble family and a great nepew of te country's revered founding President, Félix oupouët-Boigny, e ad impressed as a top government official and minister in te 1990s, overseeing infrastructure development and radical economic reforms.A military coup ten pused Tiam to seek a fres career abroad, wic culminated in ig-profile stints as cief executive of UK insurance giant Prudential and ten te banking group Credit Suisse.But returning ome at last, tree years ago, e embarked on a steady advance towards te next Ivorian presidential election.After te deat in 2023 of former President enri Konan Bédié, long-serving leader of te opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), Tiam was perfectly positioned to take is place and ten on 17 April tis year e was cosen as te party's candidate for te upcoming presidential race.Tat was no guarantee of victory, and especially if - as seems quite plausible Ouattara opts to run for a fourt term, backed by all te assets and advantages of incumbency and a track record of four successive years of annual economic growt above 6%.owever, Tiam stood out as te prime alternative.As an opponent of te ruling Rally of oupouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RDP), e offered Ivorian voters te cance to cange teir government.Yet wit is centrist politics and solid tecnocratic credentials, is candidacy offered reassuring competence and te prospect of continuing te impressive economic progress tat Ouattara as piloted since 2011.Now tat potential trajectory is blocked. If te court decision stands - and Ivorian law offers no option of appeal for tis particular issue - Tiam will be out of October's contest.It is a race from wic past court convictions ave already excluded tree oter prominent opposition figures - former President Laurent Gbagbo, former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and a former minister, Carles Blé Goudé - all central actors in te political crises and civil conflicts tat brutally paralysed te progress of Ivory Coast between 1999 and 2011.Te prospect now is tat Ouattara or any cosen RDP successor candidate will approac te election witout facing any eavyweigt political callenge.Tat can only deepen Ivorians' already widespread popular disillusionment wit te country's political establisment.Tis is against te wider context of a West Africa were te radical anti-politics retoric of te soldiers wo ave seized power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger already finds a sympatetic audience among many disencanted young people.Tat really matters in societies were, typically, tree-quarters of te population is under 35.Amidst tis crisis for West African democracy, tere ave been some moments of encouragement.In Liberia in 2023 and in Senegal and Gana last year, incumbent governments were voted out, in free and fair elections wose results were accepted by all contestants witout argument.Te Senegalese result, in particular, owed muc to te massive entusiastic mobilisation of young people.Many oped tat Ivory Coast could offer a furter positive example of democratic coice and te offer of cange, and an example tat migt be all te more influential because te country is a prosperous regional powerouse.It is te economic engine of te CFA franc single currency bloc and besides te cocoa industry, it is also a key ub for business services and finance and a leading political voice in te regional grouping, te Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).Wat appens in Ivory Coast really matters and is widely noticed, across West Africa and indeed, also rigt across francopone Africa more generally.Ouattara is one of te continent's most prominent statesmen, commanding broad respect internationally too.And yet now te run-up to te country's crucial next presidential election as become ensnared in a return version of te identity politics tat so soured te bitter disputes and instability of te 1990s and 2000s.Back ten, te governments of first Bédié and ten Gbagbo used te contentious "ivoirité", meaning "Ivorian-ness" law to sut Ouattara out of standing for te presidency on te grounds tat is family allegedly ad foreign origins.It was only in 2007 tat te government scrapped te ban on is candidacy and only in 2016 - wen e was already in office - tat a new constitution at last ended te requirement tat te stated parents of presidential candidates be native-born Ivorians.Te poisonous mobilisation of identity issues ad been a major contributing factor to te civil wars, street violence and nortern separatist partition tat brutally scarred Ivory Coast for more tan a decade, up to 2011, at a cost of tousands of lives.Today te country feels far from suc large-scale conflict.Tere is no popular appetite for a return to confrontation and politicians are staying well away from te incendiary retoric of te past.But te Tiam saga sows ow identity issues, even in a more legalistic form and in tis opefully more peaceful era, can still weig eavily.Ivory Coast only permits dual nationality under certain limited conditions.So in its 22 April ruling, an Abidjan court declared tat, under te terms of a little-used post-independence law, Tiam ad automatically lost is Ivorian citizensip almost four decades ago wen e acquired Frenc nationality - after several years' study in Paris.Altoug e officially surrendered tat tis February, and tus automatically recovered is original citizensip, tis was too late for inclusion on tis year's register of eligible voters or candidates.In vain, is lawyers ad argued tat, troug is fater, Tiam ad Frenc nationality from birt - wic, if accepted, would exempt im from te dual nationality ban.Seeking to igligt te absurdity and inconsistencies of te situation, e argued tat, logically, te country sould now and back its prized 2024 Africa Cup of Nations football title because many of te players also ave Frenc nationality."If we apply te law te way [tat] tey just applied it to me, we ave to give te cup back to Nigeria - because alf of te team was not Ivorian," e told te BBC.And Tursday could bring yet anoter setback in a sceduled court earing were a judge may now rule tat Tiam cannot, as a non-national, lead te PDCI.Te past two weeks ave seen continuing political and legal debate over tis wole saga, wit te Tiam camp oping tat a combination of popular pressure and discreet political negotiation will lead to a compromise tat lets im back into te presidential race, peraps along wit te oter excluded contenders.And Ouattara, sould e cose not to run, migt want to safeguard is impressive track record and secure is international reputation by intervening wit some kind of deal tat allows Tiam to run.Wit monts to go before te polls, tere is still time for tat. But no-one is counting on it.Paul Melly is a consulting fellow wit te Africa Programme at Catam ouse in London.Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from te African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafricaTidjane Tiam is callenging a court decision removing im from te electoral roll aead of October's poll.Tidjane Tiam as been banned from standing in October's elections in Ivory Coast. So wat is is next move?A court argued Tidjane Tiam forfeited is Ivorian nationality wen e became a Frenc citizen in 1987.Seasoned business executive Tidjane Tiam is named as te candidate for Ivory Coast's main opposition party.Wigs and beauty contests are big business in Ivory Coast, but te industry is facing cange.
Is Ivory Coasts red card politics an own goal for democracy
