(Bloomberg) -- Six political parties that make up Ivory Coast's ruling coalition have agreed to form a single party as the West African nation prepares for 2020 presidential elections.
The parties that signed the accord on Monday include President Alassane Ouattara's Rally of the Republicans and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, led by ex-President Henri Konan Bedie, which ruled the country from independence until a 1999 coup, according to an emailed statement. The new party will be called Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace, the same name as the current coalition that's been named after the country's founding father, Felix Houphouet-Boigny.
The statement didn't say when the new party will be launched. Recent months have exposed growing divisions between the two main parties, which disagree over the candidate that should succeed Ouattara when he steps down in 2020.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivier Monnier in Abidjan at omonnier@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Renee Bonorchis
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