Ivory Coast: Experts committee defends new draft constitution

The Ivory Coast new draft constitution has been defended by the committee put in place by Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara as democratic, further dismissing claims by the opposition that the new draft is oppressive.

The committee further said that the new constitution will bring clarity on the Ivorian citizenship, a topic which has dominated public opinion during the past years.

“According to the constitution, to become an Ivorian citizen means all your parents or one of your parents must have Ivorian nationality. And since it is obliged that one of the parents should be Ivorian, it means one of your grand parents should be Ivorian either by birth or he or she became through naturalization,” Ouraga Obou, chairman of the constitutional committee said.

Repeated focus on Ivorian citizenship has been raising a feeling of resentment among Ivorians who live in the North, many of whom have family ties in Burkina Faso and Mali.

“ Let us avoid anything that can damage our constitution. The president has been clear on this. We need to avoid exclusion,” minister of justice, Sansan Kambile said.

The opposition has called on Ivorians to reject the draft constitution adding that enough time has not been given for them to go through the 57 page document.