Ahead of a rally for Simone Gbagbo, president of the Mouvement des générations capables and candidate in Côte d'Ivoire's presidential election on October 25, in Yopougon, a district of Abidjan, on October 22, 2025. SIA KAMBOU / AFP
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo is almost unrecognizable in her campaign posters. At 76, her face is smooth, and she smiles broadly, appearing radiant. After half a century of fierce political struggle, she now stands center stage. At the end of her rallies, she dances with joy. For the first time in the history of Côte d'Ivoire's presidential elections, "Gbagbo" refers to her.
The former first lady is a candidate in Saturday's October 25 vote, unlike her ex-husband, former president Laurent Gbagbo, who was not authorized to run by the Constitutional Council due to a criminal sentence. She will face three other challengers and the incumbent president, Alassane Ouattara, the strong favorite who is seeking a fourth term.
An opponent she now treats with courtesy, though he was once her greatest enemy. In the past, she would angrily call him the "chief bandit": the man from the North who ousted her from the presidency by force on April 11, 2011, with the help of "the devil" – Nicolas Sarkozy, then the president of France.
