International Observers Arrive for Saturday’s Election in Cote d’Ivoire

International observers arrived in Abidjan on Wednesday to watch the electoral process that will choose the next leader of Cote d’Ivoire.

The mission, which is made up of members of the Carter Center and the Electoral Institute for Democracy in Africa, has deployed 47 observers throughout the country.

“I assure you that the mission will follow not just the day of the voting but it also will follow the transmission, the compilation, the proclamation of the provisional results, and the announcement of the provisional results of the election, which will take place in the Constitutional Council, so we are here until the end of the electoral process,” said Tommaso Caprioglio, legal lead for the international electoral observers’ mission

Concerns about electoral violence in the West African nation have increased in recent weeks, after demonstrations and attacks in different regions.

Assailants burned down the home of a leading opposition presidential candidate Pascal Affi N’Guessan, while one of his party’s offices came under attack elsewhere.

The unrest came days after N’Guessan and fellow opposition candidate Henri Konan Bedie called for a boycott of the Oct. 31 election, complaining that the country’s electoral commission is made up entirely of officials from the ruling party.

President Alassane Ouattara, who first came to power after the 2010 disputed election which left 3,000 people dead in its aftermath, is now seeking a third term in office.

Ouattara maintains that he can serve a third term because of changes to the country’s constitution, though his opponents consider his candidacy illegal.

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