I.Coast Opposition Leader Thiam Barred From Presidential Election

Source: International Business Times

Tidjane Thiam, the head of Ivory Coast's main opposition party, has been barred from the country's presidential election after a court ruled his nationality was invalid AFP An Ivory Coast court on Tuesday struck main opposition leader Tidjane Thiam off the nation's electoral list, closing the door on him running in a presidential election in October. The court said Thiam, who became head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) this month, was removed from the electoral list because he had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. Thiam, a former international banker, called the ruling "an act of democratic vandalism".