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Ivory Coast president dissolves parliament after voter fraud allegations

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday dissolved the country's parliament and electoral commission based on allegations of voter fraud in the long delayed presidential elections in the African nation. On disbanding the government, Gbago charged Prime Minister Guillaume Soro with creation of new government and deciding on a new election format. Gbago had accused Beugre Mambe, the head of the independent electoral commission, of fraud by attempting to register over 400,000 whom Gbago considers to be foreigners. Opposition parties such as the Ivory Coast Democratic Party (PDCI) and Republican Gathering Party (RDR) have said that most of those voters are ethnic groups in the north of the country, who would likely have voted against Gbago. Gbago was elected president in 2000 to serve a five-year term, but he has managed to stay in office after elections after six successive elections have been delayed. The now deposed government had been the product of peace negotiations in 2007 between Gbago's government and northern rebels. Prior to 2007, the Ivory Coast had been divided into a southern region controlled by the government and a northern region controlled by rebel forces after a failed coup attempt in 2002, which started the country's Civil War.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 13, 2010 (boomark / email).