Ivory Coast unveils candidates in key presidential race

Abidjan (AFP) - The first chapter in Ivory Coast's upcoming landmark presidential vote opened Wednesday with the official announcement of the nine candidates who will run against incumbent Alassane Ouattara, the favourite to win.

The Constitutional Council released the names of 10 candidates for the October 25 poll, de facto kicking off an election campaign that officially begins October 11.

The ballot is viewed as crucial to return the country to stability. The last presidential vote, in 2010, triggered deadly violence following a 10-year political and military crisis.

The conflict left thousands dead and shattered the once thriving economy of the world's top cocoa-bean producer, a West African nation once dubbed France's star former colony on the continent.

Ouattara, 73, will seek a second term on the strength of the nation's economic comeback after the damaging conflict five years ago triggered by ex-president Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to step down and acknowledge Ouattara's victory at the polls.

Days after the October vote, Gbagbo on November 10 will be hauled into the dock of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the five months of 2010-2011 post-election violence that left more than 3,000 people dead.

A total of 33 Ivorians had applied to run for the country's top job including the head of Gbagbo's party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), Pascal Affi N'Guessan.

Affi N'Guessan was among the 10 listed by the Constitutional Council along with former premier from 2005 to 2007, Charles Konan Banny, and former parliament speaker Mamadou Koulibaly.

The Constitutional Council struck 23 off the list.

Some 300,000 new electors will vote, bringing the total number of voters to around 6.2 million.

Ouattara has promised that if he gains a fresh mandate in October he will not seek a third term.