Ivory Coast president dissolves government

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has dissolved the government and electoral commission after a difference over presidential election.

The move throws into doubt the electoral and reconciliation process in the divided country, where election have been delayed six times since Gbagbo’s mandate ran out in 2005.

Gbagbo promised to hold the long-awaited presidential election this year. However, political bickering and a row over rebels’ disarmament and voter registration have delayed the polls.

The presidia election was supposed to be held in 2005. The opposition accuses the president of prolonging the election process to extend his own mandate.

A 2002 to 2003 civil war split the country into two halves with the north of the country controlled by rebels and the south by the government.

The UN Security Council recently called for an election to be held by May 31, before mandates for a UN force with nearly 8,000 personnel and a 1,800-strong French deployment in the country run out.

The presidential election is expected to resolve crisis that began with the attempted coup against Gbagbo in September 2002.