LOC11:44
08:44 GMT
ALGIERS, Oct 25 (KUNA) -- More than 8.7 million voters are expected to head to polling stations in Cote d'Ivoire to elect a new president, with five candidates, including President Assane Ouattara, competing for the top position.
Ouattara, who has been in power since 2011, is being challenged by four other rivals, including Simone Gbagbo, ex-wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, and Jean-Loius Billion, a former commerce minister under Ouattara.
Two women are competing to become the country's first female president: former first lady Gbagbo, 76, and Henriette Lagou, 66, a women's rights campaigner who stood unsuccessfully in 2015.
Civil engineer and former minister Ahoua Don Mello, 67, is the fifth candidate, running as an independent. (end)
mr.mt