Former Ivory Coast Leader Gbagbo a Candidate for a Vote He is Banned From Standing

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo is nominated 2025 presidential candidate during his party, the African People's Party of Ivory Coast in Abidjan on May 10, 2024.

BIDJAN - Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was named on Friday as his party's candidate for a 2025 presidential election even though he is banned from running because of a 20-year jail term.

Gbagbo, the West African nation's president from 2000 to 2011, was the first former head of state to face a crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he was acquitted in 2019.

The 78-year-old was however ordered jailed for 20 years in 2018 for his role in the looting of a bank. He was pardoned in 2022 but still cannot run for public office.

His African Peoples' Party-Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) still named him their candidate on Friday.

In a speech lasting more than an hour, Gbagbo said he would serve only one term, take measures to halt rampant corruption and make the judiciary more independent.

Current President Alassane Ouattara has not yet said whether he will stand for a fourth term in 2025. Several of Gbagbo's former allies could be candidates against him, however.