Ivory Coast: Ivorians braces for parliamentary elections | BBC News

United Nations troops are on patrol in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, as the country braces for parliamentary elections on Sunday. The vote is the first since presidential polls a year ago sparked months of violence after the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to step down.

Mr Gbagbo is awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity. His Ivorian Popular Front party has called for an election boycott. The former president and his supporters claim the electoral commission is loyal to the new governing party led by Mr Gbagbo’s rival, President Alassane Ouattara, and will falsify the results. They also accuses the army of intimidating supporters during the campaign.

Ivory Coast: Former Ivorian Ruling Party Quits Election Commission | VoA News

Ivory Coast’s former ruling party has pulled out of the electoral commission, saying the new government refuses to include opponents in planning for coming parliamentary polls. Ivory Coast’s president says he hopes the former ruling party will take part in that vote.

Former President Laurent Gbagbo’s party says it is quitting the electoral commission because the government of President Alassane Ouattara is refusing to engage in a dialogue on security, the electoral commission, and preparations for legislative polls.

Ivory Coast: Gbagbo party quits Ivory Coast election commission | AFP

The party of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo said it has pulled out of Ivory Coast’s election commission, which is preparing December polls aimed at normalising the country after a deadly political crisis.

The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) “is suspending its participation in all activities of the Independent Election Commission,” party secretary general Laurent Akoun said in a letter to the body’s president Youssouf Bakayoko, dated Tuesday and released to the media on Wednesday.