The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has deployed a Long-Term Election Observation Mission (LTOM) to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in preparation for the country’s presidential election scheduled for October 25, 2025.
According to a statement approved by ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, the deployment aligns with the organization’s legal instruments — including the 1993 Revised Treaty, the 1999 Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peace and Security, the 2001 Additional Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and Article 53(c) of the 2008 ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.
The mission comprises fifteen experts drawn from ECOWAS member states, who will remain in Côte d’Ivoire until October 29, 2025. They will be stationed across the country to observe and assess all phases of the electoral process. The observers possess expertise in constitutional law, political affairs, diplomacy, media, electoral management, conflict prevention, gender and inclusion, and security.
Their work will focus on monitoring key electoral developments before, during, and after the vote. The mission’s analyses will serve as early warning and rapid response mechanisms to help prevent and manage potential election-related conflicts. Observers will also provide real-time assessments and recommendations aimed at fostering transparency, trust, and active citizen participation.
To ensure effective coordination with the upcoming short-term Election Observation Mission—expected to include about 100 observers—ECOWAS will establish a situation room to track national developments and issue daily updates for review by the Commission’s leadership.
The report, distributed by the APO Group on behalf of ECOWAS, emphasized that through this deployment, the regional body reaffirms its commitment to supporting Côte d’Ivoire in organizing credible, transparent, and peaceful elections, while upholding democracy, good governance, peace, and stability across West Africa.
ECOWAS also recalled that, under Articles 12 to 14 of its Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, a pre-election fact-finding mission was dispatched to Côte d’Ivoire from June 29 to July 5, 2025. That mission met with key political stakeholders—including government officials, political party representatives, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and civil society groups—and submitted a comprehensive report to the ECOWAS Commission.
Source:Africa Publicity
