Violence linked to the controversial candidacy for a third term of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has killed at least four people since Wednesday, August 12.

The situation becomes more and more tense with the approach of the election of October 31, ten years after the crisis born of the presidential election of 2010, which had made 3,000 dead and saw Alassane Ouattara come to power.

>> To read also: "Presidential in Ivory Coast: a very high tension poll"

The opposition and members of civil society called for demonstrations on Thursday after the authorities had banned all gatherings for failure to respect "proper procedures".

In Bonoua, in the south-east of the country, stronghold of the former first lady Simone Gbagbo, an 18-year-old young man was killed during clashes with the police. "The Bonoua police station was ransacked by angry demonstrators," said Hervé Niamkey, a resident. The situation was tense Thursday evening in this city crossed by the international route which connects Abidjan to Ghana.

The day before, violence had killed three people in Daoukro, stronghold of former President Henri Konan Bédié, 86, a former ally of Ouattara but who considers his candidacy for a third term "illegal". He himself was invested as a presidential candidate by the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), the main opposition formation.

The victims were killed in clashes between his supporters and young people favorable to President Ouattara. “Calm is slowly returning, but we deplore three deaths,” said a security source, on condition of anonymity. Witnesses also reported three deaths.

"ADO, get out!"

Other clashes took place Thursday between demonstrators and the police, especially in the economic capital Abidjan. These demonstrations brought together several hundred people. "We are demonstrating for the departure of President Ouattara, because his candidacy violates the Constitution. We do not want to accept a third term", explained Hervé Séka, in the district of Anono.

In the popular district of Yopougon, clashes between police and demonstrators paralyzed traffic. In Port-Bouët, a district overlooking the sea and housing the port and the airport of Abidjan, dozens of demonstrators blocked the main road, some holding up signs "ADO, get out!" in reference to the initials of President Alassane Dramane Ouattara.

In the upscale Cocody neighborhood, riot control forces had been deployed in large numbers. The police arrested a group of women singing Abidjanaise, the national anthem. The situation remained volatile in the rest of the country. Incidents notably took place in San Pedro, the country's second port.

An official investiture on August 22

This violence did not prevent the Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la democratie et la paix (RHDP), President Ouattara's party, from announcing Thursday that he would be officially invested as a candidate on August 22, during a large rally in Abidjan.

President Alassane Ouattara, 78, was elected in 2010 against the outgoing head of state, Laurent Gbagbo. The latter refused to recognize his defeat, plunging the country into crisis until his arrest by the forces of his rival, supported by French and UN forces.

Alassane Ouattara was re-elected in 2015, then announced in March to pass the baton to his Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly for the October election. But he died on July 8 of a heart attack. After this death, Alassane Ouattara announced on August 6 that he would finally seek a third term.

The Ivorian Constitution limits the number of consecutive presidential terms to two, but Alassane Ouattara considers that the adoption of a new Basic Law in 2016 allows him to stand again as a candidate, which his opponents dispute.

With AFP and Reuters

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