Ivory Coast Begins Revision of Constitution With Vote Looming

(Bloomberg) --

Ivory Coast lawmakers began the process of modifying the nation's constitution and electoral code, seven months before the world's largest cocoa grower holds presidential elections.

Members of the National Assembly and the Senate held the first of a series of meetings Tuesday that are expected to result in new legislation being promulgated by the end of March, according to a parliamentary schedule. President Alassane Ouattara, whose opponents say he plans to seek an unconstitutional third term, has previously said the revisions will make the charter's stipulations “more coherent.”

The lawmakers are under time constraints: West African Economic and Monetary Union law prohibits any modifications to member states' electoral laws and constitutions at least six months before presidential elections are held.

Tensions have been rising in Ivory Coast as it prepares to choose a new leader on Oct. 31. The West African nation hasn't had a smooth handover of power since gaining independence from France in 1960. More than 3,000 people died in post-electoral violence in 2011, when then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to Ouattara.

Talks that began in January between Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly and opposition parties on proposed reforms to the electoral code have stalled. The government's opponents claim the prime minister halted the discussions prematurely before consensus was reached on issues including the composition of the electoral commission.

To contact the reporter on this story: Leanne de Bassompierre in Abidjan at ldebassompie@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Karl Maier

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