Ivorians tick "yes" for new constitution

A large number of Ivorians voted in favour of a new constitution in a referendum held on Sunday.

Results released on Tuesday showed that over 93 percent of the voters had backed the new charter, that President Alassane Ouattara says will ensure peace in the wake of years of political turmoil.

Opposition parties, suspected of stirring violence reported at about 100 polling stations in Abidjan on Sunday, had called for a boycott of the polls, saying the new decree was designed in a way that will allow Ouattara to line up his choice of a successor and solidify his coalition.

Turnout was 42.41 percent of registered voters.

The constitution will allow for the creation of a post for a vice president, and the setting up of a senate, a third of whom would be nominated by the head of state. It will also suppress a contested clause on national identity — the so-called “Ivorian-ness” clause which took effect in 2000 and stipulates that both parents of a presidential candidate must be born on Ivorian soil and not have sought nationality in another country.

_Reuters