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Ivory Coast: Ouattara ally named new Prime Minister

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast has a new Prime Minister (PM) in the person of Amadou Gon Coulibaly. He is a former secretary general to the presidency and a close ally to President Alassane Ouattara.

“The President of the Republic signed a decree appointing Amadou Gon Coulibaly (57) as Prime Minister, head of government,” the presidency said. In his new role, he is also the mayor of Korhogo, the main city in the north of the country.

Coulibaly must “propose a new government as soon as possible,” according to the presidential statement. He is a member of the Rally of Republicans (RDR) of Mr. Ouattara which constitutes the euling coalition with the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI) of the former president Henri Konan Bédié.

#prci:Le Chef de l'Etat vient de signer un décret portant nomination de M. Amadou GON COULIBALY en qualité de Premier Ministre pic.twitter.com/aqfn6O1Um2

— Presidenceci (@Presidenceci) January 10, 2017

The need to occupy the PM post arose from a government reorganization that led to the dissolution of the cabinet on Monday and the subsequent appointment on Tuesday of former PM Daniel Kablan Duncan as Vice President.

The position of Vice President was borne out of a constitutional referendum held in November 2016.

Ouattara told the Ivorian representatives in an extraordinary session on Tuesday: “I wanted to come before you to inform you of my decision to appoint the Vice-President of the Republic. I chose Daniel Kablan Duncan, a great servant of the State.”

Mr. Duncan, 73, was elected for the first time to represent Grand-Bassam (south) in the legislative elections of December 18, 2016.

The country just came out of a two day army mutiny that hit the central region of Bouake on Friday spreading to other regions. It reached Abidjan on Saturday before the government announced a deal with the mutinous officers. The security situation led to the firing of 3 top security chiefs by the president on Monday.

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