Ivory Coast’s ruling party has expressed its support for President Alassane Ouattara seeking a fourth term in 2025, making it more likely that the 82-year-old will run again.

Ouattara, who was re-elected for a contested third term in 2020, has said he would like to step down, but also suggested he would need old rivals to commit to withdrawing from politics too.

On Monday, top officials of Ouattara’s party, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), passed a motion expressing their desire to do everything possible to ensure that the RHDP, under Ouattara’s leadership, was “the undisputed winner of the next presidential election in 2025”.