Ivory Coast: govt dissolved amidst infighting

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara dissolved the government on Wednesday, amid tensions with his party’s partner in the governing coalition.

A statement from the presidency said, President Ouattara has reappointed Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly to form a new government.

It however said the rest of the government, including the key posts of finance and defense minister, remain vacant.

Presidential elections in this West African nation are scheduled for October, 2020 and Ouattara hinted in April that he was free to run again.

He said the new constitution authorizes him to do serve two terms starting in 2020. His claim angered political opponents.

Ivorian voters overwhelmingly approved the new constitution in a November 2016 vote that was boycotted by Ouattara’s main opposition.

It scrapped a provision in the previous constitution requiring both of a presidential candidates’ parents be natural-born Ivorian citizens, which had been used to disqualify Ouattara from a 2000 election and helped fuel regional tensions that saw the country split into two from 2002-11.