SUMMARY

Alassane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician and the current president of Ivory Coast. Born in Dimbokro on the 1st of January 1942, a city close to the capital of Yamoussoukro, Ouattara’s childhood was divided between Ivory Coast, where he completed his primary education, and what is today Burkina Faso where he finished his secondary education. Following further studies in the United States, Ouattara held several prominent positions within the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of West African States.

Ouattara began his political career in early 1990 when he joined the government of Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Within the period of a year he was appointed Prime Minister where he remained until the death of Houphouet-Boigny in 1993. After a couple of years back at the International Monetary Fund, Ouattara returned to Ivory Coast as the leader of the political party the Rally of the Republicans. His candidacy for the presidential elections of 2000 was however disqualified due to alleged citizenship issues. He yet decided to run in the 2005 elections postponed until 2010 due the outbreak of the Ivorian intra-state conflict. After winning the second tour just ahead of his political rival Laurent Gbagbo, Alassane Ouattara became the new president of Ivory Coast.

The supporters of Alassane Ouattara are mainly members of the northern Muslim ethnicities regrouped under the misused name of “Dioulas”. Since the presidency of Konan Bedié (1993-1999) and the ivorisation policy, the country has been divided between northern and southern Ivory Coast. The south is mainly inhabited by the alleged native ethnicities of Christian belief and northern Ivory Coast by ethnicities with alleged foreign origins of Muslim belief. Ouattara, being a northern Dioula, is hence strongly supported by the northern population.

The supporters of Alassane Ouattara have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence