| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
10 December 2000 |
| Purpose of elections |
For the first time since Parliament was dissolved on 24 December 1999 following a coup-d'état, elections were held for all seats in the National Assembly. General elections had previously been held in November 1995. |
Five and a half million inhabitants of Côte d'Ivoire went to the polls on 10 December 2000 to elect the 225 members of the National Assembly.
The partisans of the former Prime Minister, Alassane Ouattara, barred from standing in the legislative elections after having been eliminated from the presidential election of 22 October 2000, urged voters to boycott the elections; in the north, prefectures and constabulary stations were attacked. The Supreme Court had ruled that Mr. Ouattara was not able to provide sufficient proof that he was a citizen of the country. His detractors consider him to be a native of Burkina Faso.
All in all, 978 candidates - including the RDR candidates, whose names were not withdrawn from the official lists - vied for the 225 seats.
For the People's Front of Côte d'Ivoire (FPI) of President Gbagbo, the primary objective was to show that it was not a minority party, as some were claiming. For the former party in power, the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), split by the coup d'état of December 1999 and by the ten months of transition, it was the first stage on the road back to power.
The vote took place in the absence of the major international organisations. The United Nations, the Organization of African Unity (OAS) and the European Union all failed to send observers after Mr. Outtara's candidature was rejected.
The country's religious leaders - with the Moslems in the forefront, joined for the first time by representatives of the Roman Catholic church - called two days prior to the elections for a return to civil harmony.
Election day was calm and, despite all expectations, voting went smoothly throughout the country except in the north, where elections could only be held in four of the 32 electoral districts. In several polling booths in the north, election equipment was burnt and many election officials were subjected to intimidation. In the south, voting was not disrupted by any such incidents but turnout was low at some 34%.
Initial results, proclaimed by the National Election Commission, showed that the FPI had made inroads at the expense of the PDCI, which had dominated the previous Assembly, dissolved following the coup d'état of December 1999. The FPI won 96 seats as against 79 for the PDCI. Sixteen independent candidates were elected along with four militants from the Workers' Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PTI), one from the Democratic Union of Côte d'Ivoire, one from the Movement of Forces for the Future (MFA) and one from the RDR who is not recognized by the party leadership.
Twenty-six seats in electoral districts in the north were filled in the second round, held on 14 January 2001. The RDR once again urged voters to boycott these by-elections. The second round, which was calm, was closely supervised. The by-elections, which were maintained by President Gbagbo in a climate of tension, one week after an attempted coup, were marked by a very high abstention rate (near 87%).
By the end of the second round, the PDCI had picked up 15 more seats. Five independents were elected together with four RDR candidates. The FDI did not win any seats. Voting in the district of Kong (two MPs), the electoral stronghold of the Ouattara family, had to be postponed once again.
On 22 January 2001, the inaugural legislative session was held in the presence of all MPs-elect except the five RDR deputies. Mr. Mamadou Koulibaly, Ministry of the Economy and Finance and spokesman for the outgoing government, was elected President of the National Assembly.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 10 December 2000 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
5'517'613
1'740'240 (31.54%)
192'442
1'547'798 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) - African Democratic Rally (RDA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Rally of Republicans (RDR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivorian Labour Party (PIT) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement of Forces of the Future (MFA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Union of Democrats of Cote d'Ivoire (UDCI) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) - African Democratic Rally (RDA) |
98
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) |
96
|
|
|
|
|
| Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI) |
14
|
|
|
|
|
| Rally of Republicans (RDR) |
5
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivorian Labour Party (PIT) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement of Forces of the Future (MFA) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Union of Democrats of Cote d'Ivoire (UDCI) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
204
19
8.52%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
Panafrican News Agency
National Assembly (01.01.2008)
The current parliamentary term was due to end on 10 December 2005, but was extended by presidential decree. |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
