Politics of Ivory Coast

The politics of Ivory Coast takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ivory Coast is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

The capital since 1983 is Yamoussoukro; however, Abidjan remains the commercial center. Most countries maintain their embassies in Abidjan. A civil war was fought in Ivory Coast between 2002–2004 and a second civil war broke out in March 2011 following contested elections that saw president-elect Alassane Ouattara come into power in 2011 and reelected in 2015. It is located in Africa.

Civil war

Further information: Civil war in Côte d'Ivoire

Troops, mostly hailing from the north of the country, mutinied in the early hours of 19 September 2002. They soon after launched attacks in many cities, including Abidjan. By lunchtime, they had control of the north of the country. Their principal claim relates to the definition of who is a citizen of Ivory Coast (and so who can stand for election as president), voting rights and their representation in government in Abidjan. The events in Abidjan shows that it is not a tribal issue, but a crisis of transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, with the clashes inherent in the definition of citizenship. Forces involved in the conflict include:

• Government forces, the National Army (FANCI), also called loyalists, formed and equipped essentially since 2003
• The Young Patriots : nationalist groups aligned with President Laurent Gbagbo
• Mercenaries recruited by President Gbagbo:
  • allegedly, Belarusians
  • some former combatants of Liberia, including under-17 youths, forming the so-called "Lima militia"
• New Forces (Forces Nouvelles, FN), ex-northern rebels, who hold 60% of the country; their political expression is the Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire, or MPCI
• French forces: troops sent within the framework of Opération Licorne and under UN mandate (United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire), 3000 men in February 2003 and 4600 in November 2004;
• Soldiers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), White helmets, also under the UN.

Executive branch

Main article: Achi II government

Main office-holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Alassane Ouattara	Rally of the Republicans	4 December 2011
Vice-President	Tiémoko Meyliet Koné	Independent	19 April 2022
Prime Minister	position vacant

Ivory Coast's 1959 constitution provides for strong presidency within the framework of a separation of powers. The executive is personified in the president, elected for a five-year term. The president is commander in chief of the armed forces, may negotiate and ratify certain treaties, and may submit a bill to a national referendum or to the National Assembly. According to the constitution, the President of the National Assembly assumes the presidency in the event of a vacancy, and he completes the remainder of the deceased president's term. The cabinet is selected by and is responsible to the president. Changes are being proposed to some of these provisions, to extend term of office to 7 years, establish a senate, and make president of the senate interim successor to the president.

Laurent Gbagbo took power following a popular overthrow of the interim leader Gen. Robert Guéï who had claimed a dubious victory in presidential elections; Gen. Guéï himself had assumed power on 25 December 1999, following a military coup against the government of former President Henri Konan Bédié. Gbagbo was elected president in 2000 in an election boycotted by many oppositional forces. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The prime minister is appointed by the president. Alassane Ouattara is currently the president of Ivory Coast. He was reelected in the 2015 Ivorian presidential election.

After a new constitution was approved by referendum, it is expected President Alassane Ouattara would appoint a Vice-President before 2020. The President and Vice-President will run on a joint ticket from 2020. They will be both elected for a five-year term, with only one possible reelection. The Vice-President will replace the President in case of death, resignation and any other vacancy.

In November 2020, Alassane Ouattara won third term in office in elections boycotted by the opposition. His opponents argued it was illegal for president Ouattara to run for a third term. ^[1]

Legislative branch

National Assembly of Ivory Coast.

Parliament of Ivory Coast is a bicameral body composed by the National Assembly and the Senate of Ivory Coast. Prior to November 2016 and the future creation of the Senate, the Parliament of Ivory Coast was only composed of the National Assembly. The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 255 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. It passes on legislation typically introduced by the president although it also can introduce legislation. The Senate of Ivory Coast (Sénat) will have two-thirds of the senators indirectly elected and one-third appointed by the president-elect, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Ivory Coast is a one party dominant state with the Rally of the Republicans in power.

Judicial branch

Main article: Judicial system of the Ivory Coast

The judicial system culminates in the Supreme Court of Ivory Coast. The High Court of Justice is competent to try government officials for major offenses. The Supreme Court or Court Supreme consists of four chambers: Judicial Chamber for criminal cases, Audit Chamber for financial cases, Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases, and Administrative Chamber for civil cases; there is no legal limit to the number of members.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties in Ivory Coast. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Ivory Coast.

Presidential elections

Main article: 2020 Ivorian presidential election

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Alassane Ouattara	Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace	3,031,483	95.31
	Kouadio Konan Bertin	Independent	64,011	2.01
	Henri Konan Bédié	Democratic Party of Ivory Coast	53,330	1.68
	Pascal Affi N'Guessan	Ivorian Popular Front	31,986	1.01
Total			3,180,810	100.00
Valid votes			3,180,810	97.28
Invalid/blank votes			89,003	2.72
Total votes			3,269,813	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			6,066,441	53.90
Source: Independent Electoral Commission

Parliamentary elections

Main article: 2021 Ivorian parliamentary election

Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) won 137 of 254 contested seats in the election, according to official results. Union for Democracy and Peace in Ivory Coast (UDPCI) claimed fraud and the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) appealed for calm. One seat remained open on March 10 because a candidate died during the campaign. ^[2] The elections were peaceful and turnout was 37.88%, with 2,788,022 voters participating out of 7,359,399 registered. There were 82,184 null ballots and 34,083 blank ballots.

Patrick Achi was named interim Prime Minister on March 8, during the illness of Hamed Bakayoko. ^[3] Bakayoko died of cancer on March 10. ^[4]

The largest opposition grouping will mostly likely be a coalition formed by Henri Konan Bedie′s UPDCI and Laurent Gbagbo's FPI, which won 50 seats. ^[2]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace	1,313,886	49.18	137	–30
	PDCI-RDA–EDS	441,602	16.53	50	–
	Democratic Party of Ivory Coast	160,599	6.01	23	–
	Together for Democracy and Sovereignty	118,570	4.44	8	New
	Together to Build (UDPCI, FPI and allies)	53,826	2.01	8	+2
	Ivorian Popular Front	52,451	1.96	2	–1
	For the Republic and Democracy	2,417	0.09	0	New
	Republican Union for Democracy	2,053	0.08	0	0
	Rally of Democrats of Ivory Coast	1,810	0.07	0	New
	Rally for Peace and Agreement	1,694	0.06	0	0
	1,000 Volunteers	1,600	0.06	0	New
	Union of Democrats for Progress	1,146	0.04	0	0
	Party for African Integration	1,016	0.04	0	New
	RPC-PAIX–GP-PAIX	911	0.03	0	–
	Ecological Party of Ivory Coast	822	0.03	0	New
	Strength to the Peoples	681	0.03	0	New
	Alliance for Democracy Movement	589	0.02	0	New
	Serving Ivory Coast	587	0.02	0	New
	Democratic and Civic Union	535	0.02	0	0
	National Civic Movement	533	0.02	0	0
	New Union for Ivory Coast	464	0.02	0	New
	People's Party of Social Democrats	405	0.02	0	0
	Party for Progress and Socialism	392	0.01	0	New
	Ivorian Ecological Party	300	0.01	0	New
	National, Democratic and Reformist Front	263	0.01	0	0
	Congress for an Ivorian and Pan-African Renaissance	248	0.01	0	0
	Pan-African Congress for Renewal	244	0.01	0	New
	People's Socialist Union	237	0.01	0	0
	Union for Total Democracy in Ivory Coast	233	0.01	0	0
	Union for National Progress	228	0.01	0	0
	Group of Political Partners for Peace	194	0.01	0	New
	Liberal Democratic Party of Ivory Coast	192	0.01	0	New
	Ivorian Democratic Front	181	0.01	0	New
	Pan-African Democratic Rally	175	0.01	0	0
	Reform is Possible	246	0.01	0	New
	Ivorian Centrist Alliance	143	0.01	0	New
	Business and Farmers Party of Ivory Coast	118	0.00	0	New
	UNITE-AMOUR-PAIX	88	0.00	0	New
	National Integrity and Conscience	82	0.00	0	New
	Democratic and Social Movement	79	0.00	0	0
	Social Democrat Party	66	0.00	0	New
	Ivorian Party of Challenges to Overcome	64	0.00	0	0
	National Congress for the Development of Ivory Coast	57	0.00	0	New
	Collective of Democratic Ivorians	55	0.00	0	0
	National Reforming Party	53	0.00	0	New
	Party of Democratic Rebirth and Development	46	0.00	0	New
	Party of Republican Democrats	43	0.00	0	New
	National Movement of Young Centrists	18	0.00	0	New
	Independents	509,513	19.07	26	–50
Vacant				1	–
Total		2,671,755	100.00	255	0
Valid votes		2,671,755	95.83
Invalid/blank votes		116,267	4.17
Total votes		2,788,022	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,359,399	37.88
Source: CEI

Administrative divisions

Main article: Departments of Ivory Coast

For administrative purposes, Ivory Coast is divided into 58 departments, each headed by a prefect appointed by the central government. There are 196 communes, each headed by an elected mayor, plus the city of Abidjan with ten mayors.

The 58 departments (départements, singular - département) are listed in the article Departments of Ivory Coast.

International organization participation

ACP, AfDB, AU, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

References

1. "Ivory Coast election: Alassane Ouattara wins amid boycott". BBC News. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
2. "Ivory Coast: Ouattara's party wins majority in parliament vote". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera English. 9 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
3. Aboa, Ange (8 March 2021). "Ivory Coast President Ouattara names Patrick Achi as interim prime minister". news.yahoo.com. Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
4. "Ivory Coast Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko dies at 56". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera English. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

External links and references

• CIA World Factbook 2003