Ivory Coast’s top opposition figure, Tidjane Thiam, has been officially disqualified from running in the country’s upcoming presidential election, deepening concerns about the fairness of the October vote. The electoral commission confirmed Wednesday that Thiam, along with three other high-profile opposition figures, has been excluded from the final list of approved candidates.

Thiam, a former Credit Suisse CEO and now head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, had been widely viewed as the leading contender against incumbent President Alassane Ouattara. His disqualification follows a court ruling earlier this year which deemed him ineligible due to his former dual citizenship.

Born in Ivory Coast, Thiam had acquired French nationality in 1987 but renounced it in March. Despite this, the court’s earlier decision still stands. Thiam had vowed to fight the ruling, but the electoral commission says it is simply following legal orders.

“If the courts have ordered removal, we will comply,” Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, president of the electoral commission, told reporters on Monday.

Thiam had secured his party’s nomination unopposed and was seen as a unifying figure for the opposition after the 2020 election, which was marred by violence and a widespread boycott by rival candidates.

The Democratic Party of Ivory Coast has condemned his exclusion as politically motivated.

The statement called the decision “unfair” and announced plans for national protests “to defend democracy.”

In addition to Thiam, other major opposition figures banned from running include former president Laurent Gbagbo, his ally Charles Ble Goude, who was charged with crimes against humanity during the post-election crisis—and Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader and prime minister who was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for allegedly orchestrating a coup.

The disqualifications have heightened fears of renewed unrest in a nation still recovering from past electoral violence and deep political divisions.