Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara has stunned his critics by announcing that he will not run for a third term, putting pressure on other regional leaders to follow his example, writes the BBC Newsday’s James Copnall from the main city, Abidjan.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: an African politician comes to power, likes his time in office, and changes the constitution to run again.
This story has an unusual ending though – and one that has led to both applause and consternation in West Africa and further afield.
There were gasps from the politicians who had gathered to hear him speak in the capital Yamoussoukro – and perhaps even louder sounds from the vicinity of the presidential palace in neighbouring Guinea.
For months opposition politicians in Guinea have been insisting that President Alpha Condé, 82, is intent on using any means he can to extend his stay in power.
There have been huge protests – and even deaths – in several places in Guinea over the issue, and Condé is attempting to organise a referendum, which would allow him to run again, even though he is in what is currently his second and final term.
