Ivory Coast: Soumahoro reappointed as head of National Assembly

A close associate of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, Amadou Soumahoro, has been reappointed as head of the National Assembly, following the 6 March legislative elections won by the ruling party "At the end of the vote, the candidate Amadou Soumahoro, having obtained the absolute majority of votes cast, is declared elected president of the National Assembly," announced on Tuesday by MP Mamadou Diawara, the oldest member of parliament, who chaired the ceremony.

Mr Soumahoro, 67, a former minister and founding member of President Ouattara's party, received 158 votes out of 247 voters, compared to 85 votes for opposition candidate Eliane N'Zi. The required majority was 128 votes.

Amadou Soumahoro had succeeded in March 2019 to the perch of the Assembly to the former leader of the rebellion Guillaume Soro, who, in conflict with President Ouattara, had been pushed to resign and now lives in exile.

The ruling party, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), won an absolute majority in the National Assembly with 137 seats out of 254, against 91 for the opposition parties.

Sixteen deputies elected as independents joined the RHDP group, according to the party.

The Constitutional Council validated these results on 25 March, except for six constituencies where voters will have to vote again, including in Séguéla, the stronghold of Hamed Bakayoko, the Prime Minister who died on 10 March in Germany of cancer. He was largely re-elected despite his absence.

The legislative elections took place peacefully and with the participation of all the major opposition parties, unlike the October 2020 presidential elections, which they boycotted and during which electoral violence resulted in around 100 deaths.