Cote d’Ivoire’s Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly is expected to appoint a new cabinet after the presidency announced the resignation of the government, amid political tension between the parties that form the ruling alliance.
President Alassane Ouattara announced the dissolution of the government on Wednesday. He then re-appointed Coulibaly as Prime Minister to foresee the formation of the new government.
The parties that form the ruling coalition are reportedly divided over the nomination of the alliance’s candidate in the 2020 presidential elections.
A plan to turn the coalition into a single party has been delayed until after the elections because Cote d’Ivoire’s Democratic Party said last month it wants to appoint its own coalition candidate.
The two parties derive their support from two of the nation’s main ethnic groups, the Dioula who are viewed as northerners and the Baoule from the southeast. Ouattara, who heads the Dioula-dominated Rally of the Republicans, won elections with the backing of PDCI leader Henri Konan Bedie twice, in 2010 and 2015.
Last month, he suggested he may seek re-election, saying a constitution adopted in 2016 allows him to extend his time in office.
