⁍ Residents of Ivory Coast’s biggest city Abidjan are stocking up on provisions and sending loved ones to rural villages ahead of a contentious presidential election on Saturday many fear could turn violent.

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⁍ Many Ivorians had hoped the 2020 election would help turn the page on a cycle of violence around elections, and see President Alassane Ouattara transfer power to a new generation.

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⁍ After initially saying he wouldn’t stand for a third term, Ouattara, 78, reversed course when his preferred successor died unexpectedly in July.

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– The world’s top cocoa producer is preparing to hold its first presidential election since a civil war broke out in 2010. President Alassane Ouattara is seeking a third term in Saturday’s vote, but his two main rivals— Henri Konan Bedie, a former president overthrown in a coup in 1999, and Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who served as prime minister under Ouattara’s predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo—have called for a boycott of the election, accusing it of being rigged, Reuters reports. Some 41.5% of registered voters have received their ID cards so far, according to the electoral commission, and analysts say there’s little suspense about Ouattara’s likely victory. “This is an election that will not produce a true winner,” an analyst with International Crisis Group tells Reuters. “The country will be divided and weakened.” Gbagbo refused to concede defeat when Ouattara beat him in the 2010 election, leading to a war that killed 3,000 people. Ouattara, 78, has led the country since Gbagbo’s death in July, but Ouattara initially said he wouldn’t stand for a third term, then reversed course when his preferred successor died unexpectedly in July. He argued that a new constitution approved in 2016 reset his two-term limit. His decision, denounced by opponents as unconstitutional, sparked violent protests and clashes between rival supporters that have killed nearly 30 people. Pro-democracy activists say it also marks a fresh setback for the region after Mali’s military coup in August and Guinea President Alpha Conde’s successful third-term bid earlier this month.