President Alassane Ouattara wins a fourth term after the exclusion of his main rivals

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term in an election from which two of his biggest opponents were excluded, according to provisional results.

Ouattara, 83, won 89.8% of the vote, the electoral commission announced Monday, and businessman Jeal-Louis Billon came far behind with just 3.09%.

This landslide victory is not a big surprise, because after being excluded from the presidential race, former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam had urged their supporters to boycott the vote.

Voter turnout reached only 50.1%, according to the electoral commission.

Gbagbo’s ex-wife, Simone Gbagbo, who was allowed to run in the election, received 2.42% of the vote.

Monday’s results are provisional and the final result will be announced by the Constitutional Council after it has ruled on possible electoral petitions.

On Sunday, the opposition group made up of Gbagbo’s and Thiam’s parties denounced the election as a “civil coup,” saying it would not recognize Ouattara as a validly elected leader.

Ouattara first assumed the presidency in 2011, following the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo following his refusal to accept his defeat in the 2010 elections.

Ouattara was initially limited to two terms, but a 2016 constitutional revision allowed him to seek re-election in 2020, in a vote boycotted by the opposition.