Ivorians voted peacefully on Saturday to elect their president, in a vote deprived of opposition leaders and shunned by a section of the population, which is expected to lead to the re-election of Alassane Ouattara, in power since 2011.

Nearly 9 million voters were called upon to vote to choose between five candidates for the highest office in this country, the world's leading cocoa producer and a pole of stability in a region shaken by coups and jihadist violence.

But the vote did not generate much enthusiasm: while voters in the north, a pro-Ouattara region, generally turned out, participation remained low in many polling stations in the south and west, which are more pro-opposition.

- "Already elected" -

In Abidjan, the economic capital, where the streets were deserted as if on a public holiday, many polling stations visited by AFP saw no more than 25% of voters.

"I didn't vote, my candidate is excluded. Ouattara is already elected," laments Olivier, a 26-year-old student in the working-class Blockhaus neighborhood, criticizing "the violence and the restriction of freedom of expression" by the authorities.

"This is the first time I've voted and I'm happy to be able to express my choice. It's the future of young people that's also at stake," said Ben Koné, a young voter from Bouaké (central Ivory Coast), the country's second largest city and gateway to northern Ivory Coast.

There, the turnout was significant, according to an AFP journalist who noted that an hour before the polling stations closed at 6:00 p.m. (GMT and local time), hundreds of people were still queuing to fulfill their civic duty.

Some polling stations across the country extended voting by a few hours due to a late start in the morning.

According to several analysts, the absence of a prominent opposition candidate and therefore of any real stake in the election explains this lack of interest.

Because Alassane Ouattara's two main rivals, former President Laurent Gbagbo and international banker Tidjane Thiam, were out of the race on Saturday.

- No stakes -

Their candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, due to their removal from the electoral roll, the first for a criminal conviction, the second for nationality issues.

Throughout October, their parties attempted to mobilize their electorate by calling for demonstrations, with Laurent Gbagbo referring on Wednesday to a "civil coup" and an "electoral robbery."

But these calls were repressed by the authorities, who banned the demonstrations to "protect the country from disorder" and arrested hundreds of people who tried to defy this decision.

Several dozen people have been sentenced to three years in prison for participating in banned marches. This harsh treatment has been criticized by several human rights organizations.

The presidential election is still synonymous with tensions in the minds of many Ivorians, after the serious crises experienced during the 2010 (3,000 deaths) and 2020 (85 deaths) elections.

This year, four people have died since mid-October, including a gendarme in an ambush near Agboville (south)

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On Saturday, incidents were reported in around ten localities in the south and west, mainly involving the theft of electoral materials, notably in Mama, the home village of Laurent Gbagbo, according to observers from the National Human Rights Council (CNDH, civil society).

- "Marginal passions"-

The biggest clashes took place in Lopou, a village near Dabou (south), with clashes between police and protesters and roadblocks, according to AFP journalists.

"We don't want this fourth term," shouted a resident of this locality, echoing the credo hammered home by opponents in recent weeks.

In Gbougbo, in the same region, "there were no votes," residents told AFP, after clashes with security forces.

"Election always arouses passions (...). But it's marginal, (...) everything is going very well," declared Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, the president of the Independent Electoral Commission, at midday.

"I see that with this election, peace has come," said President Ouattara, who voted in Abidjan, shortly before.

Four opposition candidates were in the running to challenge the head of state, but none had the support of a major party or the colossal resources of power.

Neither former Minister of Commerce Jean-Louis Billon, 60 years old and a dissident from Tidjane Thiam's Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI, former single party) nor former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo seem capable of taking Mr. Ouattara to a second round.

And the latter also had to deal with the candidacy of a candidate with a similar program to hers, also from the Ivorian left, the sovereignist close to Russian circles Ahoua Don Mello.

Henriette Lagou, a "moderate" opponent, who had received less than 1% in 2015, completed the cast.

While many Ivorians, including those in the opposition, welcome the economic results of Ouattara's 14 years in power, many still deplore the high cost of living and unevenly distributed growth.

The results could be announced as early as Sunday.