Ivory Coast to hold presidential poll on October 25

Ivory Coast’s government has announced that the first round of a presidential election that is seen as crucial for the country’s stability will be held on October 25, Capital News reported.

Incumbent Alassane Ouattara will be seeking a second term and is widely expected to remain in office.

The country’s main opposition, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, last month chose party chief Pascal Affi N’Guessan as its candidate.

“The electoral college of the republic of Ivory Coast will convene on October 25, 2015 to carry out the election of the president,” the government said in a statement.

It was already known that the election would take place in October.

The final electoral list, including over 300,000 new electors, will include around 6.2 million voters, the statement continued.